In today’s first reading we hear God speak to Moses; not in the abstract, but rather Moses is called by name. God identifies Himself and tells Moses that He has heard the cry of the Israelites and has come to rescue them. God cares about the plight of his people and has come to redeem them from their enslavement. We hear this again in our refrain to the Psalm…The Lord is kind and merciful. God does care, so much so that He sent Jesus to teach us, lead us, and ultimately die for our sins. In the parable in today’s Gospel reading, imagine God as the person who plants the fig tree but is not getting the yield that he hoped for. Rather than destroying the tree, he allows his gardener (Jesus) to fertilize the ground around the tree in the hope that things would improve. My friends, I submit to you that WE are the fig tree(s) in the parable. Lent is our time to allow our Gardener to cultivate our ground and fertilize so that we can bear the fruit that God intended us to bear. Jesus calls us to do just that in the early portion of today’s Gospel; we are all sinners, and all need to repent. God is calling us by name, just as He spoke to Moses; how will we choose to answer His call this Lent? Reflection by St. Catherine’s parishioner, John Ceglarek