This March 20 the Catholic Church celebrates the Third Sunday of Lent. The Gospel of the day corresponds to the reading of Luke 13, 1-9, a passage in which Jesus points out: «Unless you convert, you will all perish in the same way».
Below you can read the Gospel and the homily of the Bishop of Santa María de los Ángeles (Chile), Msgr. Felipe Bacarreza Rodríguez:
Gospel of the day (Luke 13, 1-9)
1At that very moment some came and told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with that of their sacrifices.
2Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the other Galileans, because they have suffered these things?
3No, I assure you; and if you do not convert, you will all perish in the same way.
4O those eighteen on whom the tower of Siloé collapsed killing them, do you think they were more guilty than the other men who lived in Jerusalem?
5No, I assure you; and if you do not convert, you will all perish in the same way.”
6He told them this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he went looking for fruit on it and found none.
7Then he said to the vinedresser, “For three years now I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and I can’t find it; cut it down; why should you wear out the earth?”
8But he said to him, “Sir, leave it for this year, and in the meantime I will dig around it and lay down compost,
9in case it bears fruit from now on; and if it doesn’t work, you cut it.”»
You can review the other liturgical readings of the day HERE.
Homily of Archbishop Bacarreza:
The call to conversion with which this Lenten season began becomes more insistent in the Gospel of this Third Sunday of Lent. Indeed, twice Jesus repeats the warning: “Unless you convert, you will all perish.” Nobody wants to perish; the imperative condition indicated by Jesus to escape this disgrace that threatens everyone is conversion.
To read the full homily you can enter HERE.