Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 / 1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12 / Luke 13:1-9
Let’s begin with a question, and the question is this: Which Christian denomination (or which Church) appears most in movies and is the topic for stories in the newspapers?
If the answer isn’t obvious, then maybe these movies may jog our memory – The Exorcist; Da Vinci Code; Angels and Demons; Sister Act; The Sound of Music
Yes, all these movies have their themes around the Catholic Church or that the Church is used as a background.
So for better or for worse, whenever a Church is featured in a movie, it is most likely the Catholic Church, maybe because it has history as well as mystery.
And if no news is good news, then it may not be the case with the Catholic Church.
Every now and then, there are stories and articles written about the Catholic Church in the papers, some of which are inspiring while some are disturbing.
And in that sense, the Catholic Church is a bit like what we heard in today’s gospel.
We heard that some people came and told Jesus something that is rather disturbing – some Galileans were killed and Pilate had their blood mingled with that of their sacrifices.
And Jesus in turn had something disturbing to tell them – those eighteen people who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them.
Those were rather disturbing and uncomfortable discussions that we would rather not want to think about them and we might even wonder why they were in the gospel in the first place.
But the parable that Jesus told after that would put all those disturbing and uncomfortable topics in their context.
The parable about the fig tree that was not bearing fruit left the conclusion rather open-ended. So did the fig tree eventually bore fruit, or did it get chopped down?
Although there was no apparent conclusion, there was a message – the man who looked after the vineyard appealed for more time to work on the fig tree.
That gives us a glimpse of the mercy of God, which does not just give us a second chance but a series of chances for repentance.
And that’s the good news in the midst of the disturbing and uncomfortable news that we heard in the gospel.
And talking about disturbing and uncomfortable news, in last Sunday’s papers, there was an article that brought up something eerie and diabolic in which the Catholic Church was somewhat involved.
It was dubbed as the “Toa Payoh ritual murders that took place in 1981.
Singaporeans were shocked at the grisly, gruesome and horrible murders of two children in Toa Payoh within a fortnight.
But the murders and subsequent arrests of three persons drastically affected especially the Good Shepherd Sisters, who run schools, a vocational centre for girls and a shelter for women.
They knew the first victim, a nine-year-old girl, whose family were devout Catholics. And when the police arrested three people for killing the two children, the sisters were distressed to learn that one of the suspects was Catherine Tan Mui Choo, who had attended their Marymount Vocational Centre.
As the sensational case unfolded before the court, Singaporeans heard terrible details of trickery, sexual abuse, rape, violence and rituals.
When Adrian, Catherine and Adrian's 25-year-old mistress Hoe Kah Hong were sentenced to hang on May 23 1983, one of the nuns, Sister Gerard felt she had to act quickly.
She asked for and got permission to meet Catherine on death row, but only if she was willing to meet her, so she wrote her a letter right away and included a prayer card.
She waited for six months before a reply came.
The first words were: 'Sister, how could you love me after what I have done?' And she signed her letter, 'Your black sheep, Catherine.' Sr. Gerared immediately went and got permission to see her.
Sister Gerard would go to Catherine's cell each week and stay half an hour. She was not allowed to enter the cell, but the two women would hold hands and chat and pray and sing hymns together.
One day, Catherine asked to make her confession, and after that, her life changed. Catherine spent hours in prayer, and looked forward to the times when the priest would come and say the Mass in front of her cell and she received the Eucharist.
Later on, the other woman, Kah Hong asked to see Sr. Gerard too, and Kah Hong eventually asked to be baptised a Catholic and she took the name Geraldine.
And then they began to pray for Adrian’s conversion. During all those time (about 7 years), Adrian had refused to see a counsellor.
But it was not until one week before the executions that Adrian asked to see the priest. Adrian then asked for confession and communion.
So despite the gruesome, grisly and evil deeds committed by them, they eventually turned back to God and God in His mercy and compassion granted them forgiveness.
They had to pay with their lives for the wrong that they committed, but they repented and that’s the good news.
The parable of the fig tree and the man who asked for time, tells us that God is merciful and compassionate.
God does not just give us a second chance; God gives us a series of chances and waits patiently for our repentance
May we not take God’s patience for granted but repent and turn away from our sins, and by our repentance may we, the Catholic Church give the world the good news of God’s love and mercy.