Reading
Luke 21:29-33
29 He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Comment
With the parable of the fig tree, Jesus teaches that just as there is a mechanism of causality in nature, so it is also in human history, through the supernatural action of God who guides it.
There is a time that "devours" our days, like the ancient deity Chrons, but there is a Kyrios, a Lord of time, Christ, who implements in history - in our personal history and in that of humanity - a plan of salvation.
We are therefore not at the mercy of events and even when everything appears doomed to failure, spring is approaching right at the end of winter and the first shoots appear on the plants. As such is the word of the Gospel for "this generation" (v. 32) visited by grace: a sign and a promise of hope, which will bear fruit in his time.
Prayer
Give us, o Lord, a gaze capable of grasping the signs of the times, to magnify the action of your grace in our lives and in history, in which you carry out your plan of salvation. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
