Episode Transcript  

One

Monday of Holy Week 

On Monday morning of Holy Week, Jesus returned from Bethany, and as He passed by Bethphage, “Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it and found nothing on it but leaves. And He said to it, 'May you never bear fruit again'; and at that instant the fig tree withered and died.” 

The fig tree is the prophetic sign that helps us understand what Jesus is doing on Monday of Holy Week. We know that Jesus spent Palm Sunday evening in Bethany at the Home of his friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. And what do you suppose Martha did for Jesus? Why, she made a big feast of course! So, on Monday morning, when Jesus curses the fig tree for not bearing fruit, it’s not because He’s dying of hunger.

What was the problem with the fig tree? It’s not doing what it was supposed to do. Oh, it was busy alright, busy making leaves. But it wasn’t bearing fruit. The fig tree represented the Jewish people, the chosen people, and they were not bearing the fruit God asked for.

Two

Tax Collectors and Prostitutes 

Recall that Jesus drove the Jews out of the Temple yesterday, Palm Sunday. Then Monday morning, Jesus went back into the Temple and began to teach. Immediately, the chief priests accost Him, saying, “What authority have you for acting like this?” Jesus replied, “I will answer your question if you answer mine. John’s baptism, was it from God or from men?” “And they argued it out this way among themselves, ‘If we say from heaven, he will retort, then why did you refuse to believe him?; but if we say from man, we have the people to fear, for they all hold that John was a prophet'. So, their reply to Jesus was, ‘We do not know.’” 

Jesus responded, “Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the Kingdom and you are not because they heard John and they chose to repent and bear the fruit of repentance but you refuse.”

There it is! The fruit that God wants is repentance, conversion, faith, and sacrificial love. What does it mean to bear the fruit of repentance? It means to stop sinning and remove the occasions of sin, spend time with Jesus in real friendship, which means daily meditation, and end every meditation with a practical resolution in order to turn good actions into virtues. Moreover, it means going to Confession once a month.

Three

Then, to make His point about the fruit, Jesus told them this parable

There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it round, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. The Householder is God, the vineyard is the land of Israel, and the tenants are the Jewish people. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect the fruit. There is that dang fruit again. God is always insisting on collecting His fruit. 

But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another, and stoned a third… Finally, he sent his son to them. "They will respect my son," he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, "This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance." So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 

This is what they will do to Jesus, the Son of the Father, on Friday: they will take him out of the city and kill him. Then Jesus asks them, “Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” And they answered, “He should kill them and give their nation to someone else who will produce the fruit...”

Four

The Stone Rejected by the Builders 

The whole issue on Monday of Holy Week is that John came looking for the fruit of repentance, and the Jewish people rejected John. Then Jesus comes looking for the same fruit, and they reject Him. He is the stone rejected by the builders.

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the foundation stone?”

Jesus is the stone that is rejected that becomes the cornerstone of a new kingdom. Jesus is referring to a prophecy from Daniel chapter 2 in which Daniel sees a vision of four kingdoms, the Babylonians, the Persians, Greeks, and Romans. At the time of the Romans, a small stone cut by no human hand comes and strikes the fourth kingdom, shattering it. And that small stone becomes a great mountain, filling the whole earth. That stone is Jesus, who founds the Catholic Church at the time of the Romans, and the Catholic Church becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth. 

Then Jesus said, “I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”

At this moment, Jesus transfers the Kingdom of God from Israel to the Catholic Church. Now here is the question: Are we Catholics and Christians producing the fruits? Do I give God the worship He deserves as often as I can in the Mass? Am I committed to a daily deep friendship with Jesus in prayer? Are we being transformed from vice to virtue? Do we live sacrificial love? 

Five

The most effective way to bear the fruit of repentance

Okay, I know I am probably not bearing the fruit I should. But it is overwhelming to think of all I still need to do to change. I need simple, small steps I can take. The infallible means to repentance is this, read or listen to something from the Word of God, reflect or think about what struck you, and apply it to your life by asking: Am I living this or not? If not, what is preventing me? Pride, vanity, envy, sloth, anger, greed, gluttony, lust, etc. Practically, what am I going to do about it? This leads us to form a resolution, a game plan for the day.

Choose something practical and concrete to do that day based on your meditation. Do a daily examination of conscience. Go to confession once a month. If you do these things, you will bear the fruit that bears repentance. 

Suggested Resolutions:

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.

• As we approach Easter, find a time to go to confession in order to bear the fruit that Christ has asked you to.

• No matter how your Lent has gone and how well you’ve upheld your resolution, commit to focusing on God in this final week and entering into the Triduum with fresh vigor.

• Spend fifteen minutes using the following questions as an examination of conscience: Am I producing fruits? Do I give God the worship He deserves as often as I can in the Mass? Am I committed to a daily deep friendship with Jesus in prayer? Am I being transformed from vice to virtue? Do I live sacrificial love? 

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