Homily: Friday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time - Withered Fig Tree

Today’s Gospel is like a three-act play in which the third act helps us to understand the action of the previous two acts.  In Act I, Jesus comes to Jerusalem and curses a fig tree because it is barren.  In Act II, Jesus enters the Temple in Jerusalem and drives out the corrupt moneychangers.  And in Act III, Jesus returns to the fig tree, which has withered.

The barren fig tree in Act I symbolizes how the Temple has ceased to bare good fruit.  It had become corrupt; instead of the Temple sanctifying Jerusalem, earthly corruption had seeped into the Temple, poisoning its sacred worship with worldly profanity. 

The drama of this passage from Mark’s Gospel symbolizes the divine drama of Jesus coming into the world to cleanse us of sin, that we might be in right relationship with God, so that we might bear fruit, and receive eternal life.  He comes into the Temples of our hearts, to overturn tables—to upset our worldly attachments, that we might cling to what is truly important—a thriving, vibrant, intimate relationship with God through Christ.

When Jesus returned to the withered fig tree in Act III, Jesus explains three principles that will ensure that what happened to the fig tree doesn’t happen to us.  First, he says, “Have faith in God”.  Have faith.  Come to complete trust and reliance on God.  Firmly believe that God is at work despite all of the evils of the world.  This type of faith would be important for those early disciples who would be persecuted for their faith. 

This sort of faith, Jesus explains, can move mountains.  The image of a mountain being lifted up and thrown into the sea expresses the limitless power of prayer rooted in unconditional faith.  Nothing stands in the way of God’s Holy Will—in bringing about the spread of the Gospel throughout the world—and to accomplish this, even the seemingly impossible will be accomplished.

Finally, if you want to bear fruit, if you want to experience the limitless power of unconditional faith—forgive.  There is no surer poison, that will cause the roots of faith to whither, than failure to forgive.  Elsewhere, Jesus says, anyone can love those who love you, but his disciples are called to love their enemies.  To bear the fruit Jesus wants for us, we need to be people of boundless mercy; avoiding all grudges.

The more we are united to Jesus Christ, the more his desires and priorities become our own, the more fruit we will bear for the sake of the kingdom, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.