REFLECTION by Fr Michael Tate
Politics, Economics, and the Gardener
There was a terrible disaster when a building fell down killing eighteen people. Some said, ‘Oh, those killed must have been sinners, they or their parents.’ Jesus repudiates that notion: ‘No, it wasn’t for anything they did.’ It was clear to Jesus that they were the victims of poor construction and conditions at Siloam. Look at the builder.
Responsibility needs to be brought home to those who would otherwise hide behind a religious ideology, or the sheer self-interest of evading blame for a situation.
To identify those really responsible may well require major changes to the way society is organised.
Does it all seem too difficult? Jesus helps us with a metaphor:
You are like a fig tree which may not be bearing much fruit just now,
but, I am a terrific gardener:
I will water you, dig around you, make sure you are well nourished
so that you will bear the fruits I desire.
Our Lord does that by:
watering us with the waters of baptism;
pruning us, especially during Lent;
nourishing us with the bread of life in Holy Communion.
We might pause at various times during Lent to allow Our Lord to garden us so that he may create a heavenly botanical garden, a new Eden, of the whole of humanity.
© Fr Michael Tate; mtate@bigpond.com
Rev Prof Michael Tate graduated in Law from the University of Tasmania in 1968, and in Theology from Oxford University in 1971. He lectured at the University of Tasmania from 1972-78, being Dean of the Faculty of Law in 1977-78. He was a Senator for Tasmania from 1978-93, being Federal Minister for Justice from 1987-93. He served as Ambassador to The Hague and the Holy See from 1993-96. He then returned to Australia and was ordained in May 2000 and has been a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Hobart since then. He is an Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Tasmania where he lectures in International Humanitarian Law.
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