Cultivate

Farming, like the spiritual life, is not a matter of instant gratification: it requires diligence and care.

This is a key message from today’s Gospel (Luke 13:1-9).

There once was a person
who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it
but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now
I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it
and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’

As we continue our journey of Lent, may we invest time, care and diligence in the cultivation of a spiritual life that by the grace of God will flourish for eternity.