One More Year: The Gift That Demands Fruit

Eph 4:7-16, Psalm: 121, Lk 13:1-9

Memorial of Saint Anthony Mary Claret

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

There is a patience in God that should both comfort and disturb us. There is a generosity in Christ that gives us gifts we did not earn—and expects a harvest we have not yet produced. Today, Saint Paul tells us about gifts given to the Church. Jesus tells us about a fig tree running out of time. And Saint Anthony Mary Claret, the great missionary bishop, shows us what it looks like to use every gift for the glory of God before the time runs out.

In his Letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul writes, “Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Christ, having ascended on high, gave gifts to His Church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. But why? “To equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ.” Paul is saying that every gift we have received is not for ourselves. It is for the Church. It is for the mission. It is for growing up into Christ.

Then Jesus tells a parable that should make us uncomfortable. A man plants a fig tree in his vineyard and comes looking for fruit for three years. He finds none. He says to the gardener, “Cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?” But the gardener replies, “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.” The fig tree is given one more year. One more chance. One more season of grace. But not forever.

The connection is this: The gifts Paul describes are not trophies to be admired. They are seeds to be planted. They are fig trees expected to bear fruit. Saint Anthony Mary Claret understood this. He was a gifted preacher, a prolific writer, a founder of religious orders, a reformer of the Church. He could have used his gifts for his own comfort or reputation. Instead, he used them all for the mission. He once said, “A son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a man on fire with love, who spreads its flames wherever he goes. He desires mightily and strives by all means possible to set everyone on fire with God’s love.” He bore fruit. Thirtyfold. Sixtyfold. A hundredfold.

Pope Francis has said, “The Lord does not want us to be lazy Christians, content with mediocrity. He wants us to bear fruit.” Saint John Paul II, in his encyclical Christifideles Laici, wrote, “The lay faithful are called to be laborers in the vineyard, using their gifts for the building up of the Kingdom.” And Saint Anthony Mary Claret himself warned, “The time is short. We must work while it is day, for the night comes when no one can work.”

What does this mean for us? We have been given gifts. Time. Talent. Treasure. Faith. Hope. Love. We have been given the gift of another day, another Lent, another season of grace. But the gardener will not cultivate forever. There comes a moment when the tree must bear fruit or be cut down.

Today, let us examine our hearts. Are we bearing fruit, or are we merely taking up space? Are we using our gifts for the Church, or are we burying them? Let us ask Saint Anthony Mary Claret to intercede for us, that we may be set on fire with the love of God, that we may bear fruit that will last, and that when the Master comes looking for figs, He will find them.

For one more year has been given. Let us not waste it. Amen.

May God bless you all!