3rd Sunday of Lent, C March 23, 2025
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
Once upon a time, there were two brothers who lived in a kingdom in the middle of a great desert. The king was a wise man who built his kingdom around an abundant oasis. One day, someone poisoned the water, so the king needed someone to go to cross the great desert and recover the antidote to the poison. The two brothers were well known as the fastest runners in the kingdom, but even they couldn’t make it across the great desert before running out of supplies. The king, however, had two magical waterskins. Whoever drank from one of these special waterskins could go a whole day without needing food or water and the heat would not bother them. Entrusting this special gift to them, he sent them urgently to retrieve the antidote and save the kingdom.
At first, they ran as fast as they could through the desert. After half a day, they were nearly dying of thirst, faint with hunger, and the heat was unbearable. So they stopped to drink from the magical waterskins. And oh! how sweet the water was! More like a hearty, sweet nectar. Instantly, they were reinvigorated, their thirst gone, their hunger satisfied beyond anything they’d ever experienced before. They expected the sustenance, but he joy? The sweet taste? It was almost intoxicating. So enamored of this gift, both the brothers sat down to rest, delighting in this wonderful sensation.
As the sun began to set, however, the brothers realized they had not made any progress. Jumping up at once, the younger brother said, ‘hurry, brother, we must continue!” The older one replied, “but why? We have all we need. With these waterskins, we are immune to the heat, the poisoned oasis won’t affect us, and we’ll never be hungry or thirsty again. Why not stay in the desert where we are free?” “Oh no, brother, the people are counting on us. They’ll die without the antidote,” the younger said. “They’ll die eventually anyway… people die every day, what’s it matter in the long run if our small kingdom ends today or a few decades from now? Once we return, the waterskins will be taken from us and we’ll have to go back to work, but if we stay, we at least can be free the rest of our days.” Exasperated, the younger brother cried out “stay if you wish, but I must go on for the one I love is back home.” “Suit yourself, I shall stay free,” replied the older brother as he luxuriated in the sun, sipping his magical waterskin.
The younger brother reached the far off place, retrieved the antidote from the healers who lived there, and returned to the kingdom. Sustained by his magical waterskin, his whole trip lasted only three days. Upon returning to the kingdom, he was immediately rushed to the oasis where the antidote destroyed the poison and the kingdom was saved. Worried about his brother, however, he went to see the king. But the king was locked in his room and they could only talk through the door. “Give him one more day,” said the king through the door.
The day passed, but the brother did not return.. Still the king was in his room and it was now the fourth day since anyone had seen him. Problems were multiplying and he was needed, so he summoned the younger brother into his room. Upon entering the royal chambers, he saw something he never expected. The king was nailed to the wall! In silent agony, tubes ran from his body into a strange container, a pot marked with the same symbols as the magical waterskins given to the two brothers. “Now you see, don’t you?” the king asked. “This is how you were sustained in the desert, I’ve given you life from my own self. But now the time is up and I must return. You and your brother were entrusted with a great task and given a great gift. You have used it well, so you shall be rewarded. Your brother, however? I must now withdraw the sustaining gift he has taken for granted.” So it was that the younger brother married his beloved and became co-regent of the oasis kingdom. The older brother, however, had wandered so far in his presumption that, once his magical waterskin lost its power, he had no hope of finding safety. Therefore he perished in the desert, dried up by the heat, deprived of the gift of life he had so foolishly wasted.
Why tell such a fairy tale? To help you grasp a difficult truth. Fictional stories may not be “true” in the historical sense, but they often contain a truth much deeper than a textbook could give. They’re usually easier to understand than philosophical and theological arguments for the same truths. Our first reading gives us one such theological point.
“I AM sent me to you.” So Moses is told by God when Moses asks for God’s name. “I AM” is more than the beginning of a sentence, more than subject and verb. It points to this fundamental reality: God is existence itself. Existing is something we participate in. God is existence, the source of it. What that means is that anything that exists only exists because God makes it so, because God shares his existence. God didn’t just give Moses a unique name, he gave Moses an insight into the very nature of reality. God is not one thing among other things – stars, planets, trees, people, God, light, sound – No, God is, everything else has the privilege of sharing in that so long as he wills it. So, the very fact that you still exist is proof that God loves you.
When we, his servants and children, fail to live as he commands us, we are directly violating the source of our existence. God is not “unfair” when he punishes us for our sins just as we’re not “unfair” when we scratch an itch, close our eyes, or hold our breath. This is why Jesus is not afraid to so bluntly warn us “if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did.” He doesn’t need to prove that God has the right to judge us so he instead focuses on preparing us for that judgment.
Jesus, however, also knows that stories are sometimes better for making his point, which is why he tells this parable of the orchard owner, the gardener, and the tree. The owner is the only reason there is an orchard and a tree in the first place, so of course he can cut it down if he wants. God can condemn us. But if God is the owner of the orchard in this story, who is the gardener? Think about Mary Magdalen on Easter Sunday. She thinks the risen Jesus is the gardener. That’s not an accident. The gardener is also God. It is the son, pleading on our behalf. What Jesus doesn’t say in this parable, however, is how the gardener helps the tree. Why was Jesus in the garden on Easter Sunday? Because he died. He shed his blood. He was buried. The “fertilizer” in the parable is the blood of Jesus Christ just as the magic waterskin in my story was really powered by the blood of the king.
Jesus has already shed his blood to enrich our souls. He is even willing to give us extra time – the day in my story and the year in the parable – but eventually that does run out. The king has to return and if we continue to abuse the gift of life, if we fail to bear fruit in holiness and loving service to others, we’ll be cut down… left in the desert.
God loves you more than you can imagine. That’s why you exist in the first place. But this world is a poisoned oasis in a great desert. He will not, he cannot let us stay in it forever. We can enjoy the good things he has given us. We can rejoice in the strength and delight we’ve received. But never forget that they are not just for us! People will die from the poison of sin if we do not bring them the antidote of the gospel, people will starve for lack of love if we do not bear fruit. There is still time, but it is running out. Do not waste it.
Awesome homily, as always, Father. How I miss you! So glad you continue to teach us “virtually”. Thanks! You are in my prayers always!