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Gospel Reading for October 25, 2025 – Luke 13: 1-9
WASTING AWAY
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them— do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable: “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.’”
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According to Erik Erikson, a world renowned psychoanalyst, a person has 8 stages of psychosocial development, each with a conflict to be resolved. Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation from 40 to 65 years of age, is when adults focus on creating or nurturing things that will have a positive impact on the world or family. Stage 8: Integrity vs. Despair from 65 years of age until death, is when older adults reflect on their lives and may feel either a sense of fulfillment or regret.
Imagine, if at Stage 7, we have not created or nurtured things that will have a positive impact on the world or family, when we reach Stage 8, what would we be reflecting on? We will most likely have the sense of regret. We are no longer in a position to go back and make amends because the opportunity is no longer there, what with aging and everything that goes with it. It is not surprising that there are those of us who are not happy as we age. “I wish I …” will become our mantra.
When we go through life WASTING AWAY the graces and blessings we receive from God each day, through self indulgence rather than contributing to the propagation of goodness in this world, we are like the fig tree in today’s reading – exhausting the soil and fit to be cut down!
Lord, may our life always be a pleasing offering of love for you and everything you created!
