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Third Sunday in Lent
3-24-2019
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Most of us have heard of the term
“freeloader.” It refers to a person who takes and takes, but makes
little or no effort to put back. If you go to lunch with a freeloader,
more often than not they will forget to bring their money. In today’s
Gospel Jesus told a story about this pattern of life, but the freeloader
in this instance is not a person, but a fig tree. The tree drains
strength and sustenance from the soil and it never gives anything back,
it never produces any figs.
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We know Jesus was not concerned about
fruitless fig trees. His concern was people who take without giving. It
troubled Him to see people do bad things, but it troubled Him just as
much to see people do nothing, just stand by.
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A cab driver responded to a call on a hot
August afternoon. It was a small house in a quiet part of town. Like
most drivers, he would drive up to the house, honk once or twice, wait a
few minutes, then leave. He was about to do this when the door opened
and two women came out: a young woman, carrying a small suitcase,
helping a frail elderly lady. They stood by the cab for a long time
saying good bye;, both were crying.
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When the elderly lady got into the cab, she
gave him the address. She said, “Could you drive through downtown?” “But
it’s not the shortest way,” the driver said. He was thinking that he
was going off duty after this ride. “Oh I don’t mind,” she said, “I am
in no hurry. I’m on my way to the hospice.” He looked in the rearview
mirror, she was staring out of the window. “That was Mabel who walked me
to the car, she has been my healthcare aide. She wanted to come with
me, but it would be too much for both of us. I don’t have any family
left, and the doctor said it was time.”
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The cabbie surprised himself as he reached
over and shut off the meter. For the next two hours they drove through
the city. She showed him the building where she had once worked as an
elevator operator. They drove through the neighborhood where she and her
husband had lived. They pulled up outside a furniture warehouse that
had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing when she was a girl.
Sometimes she just asked him to stop at a particular building: she
would just sit and look at the building and say nothing.
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Then she suddenly said, “I’m tired; let’s go
now.” They drove in silence to the hospice. The driver got out and rang
the bell. Two orderlies came out with a wheelchair. The driver opened
the trunk and took out the suitcase. “How much do I owe you?” she asked,
reaching into her purse. “Nothing,” he said. “But you have to make a
living,” she protested. “There are other passengers,” he responded, then
he bent over and gave her a kiss. She held onto him and said, “You gave
an old woman a little moment of joy.”
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After the door of the hospice closed, the
driver just sat in his car for a while. He didn’t want to go home right
away. He started to think, what if that woman had a different driver?
What if old Jim had gone on that call? He is always angry and impatient.
What if I had done what I always do? Honk once, then drive away if they
don’t come out right away? He came to an important conclusion: “I don’t
think that I have ever done anything more important in my life.”
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As I said at the start of Lent, by all
means, give up cake and ice cream, that cocktail. Get that body ready
for the beach. But do not forget to reach out. Do the right thing, the
nice thing, the good action. Remember what we said in the confession at
the start of Mass: forgive us for the things we have done, but also for
the things we failed to do. Small actions can have great results. What
that driver did was not a heroic act. In his own words, “If I had not
been driving her around, I would have been watching TV and drinking a
beer.” But what he did had a great effect on the elderly lady. Ask
yourself, will I bear good fruit this Lent, or none at all? As Mother
Teresa said, never forget that we belong to one another.
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| Yours in Christ, |
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| Fr. Bob Warren, SA |
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