“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”
LUKE 13:6-9
Like the fig tree in Jesus’s parable, we are expected to bear fruit that can sustain and nourish the people around us. But also like the fig tree in this parable, we all fail to meet expectations at times.
Happily for us, our Lord is a good and merciful gardener. God does not will the death of any sinner. He does not want to cut us down. He knows we may yet bear fruit, and He works patiently to help us.
In His infinite wisdom, God cultivates the soil around us, breaking up the tightly packed dirt of our bad habits so our roots can spread out and we can better absorb things we need for growth. God fertilizes around us, providing spiritual nutrients to make our souls strong and healthy.
If we ponder that for a moment, we realize that it’s not necessarily a pleasant process for us. It’s hard to let go of the bad habits and selfishness that God is working to break up. Fertilizer stinks, and so might the situations our Lord allows us to be in if they will help us grow. But all of it is meant for our ultimate good.
Praying at an abortion clinic is one way that God can cultivate and fertilize our lives. Although it can be difficult, it gives us a chance to change and bear fruit…fruit that we hope will nourish a frightened mother who thinks she needs to kill her child in order to survive. A beautiful extra blessing is that we, too, can be nourished by the fruit of the other volunteers. Please allow our merciful, patient Gardener to work on your soul by going to pray at the vigil!
-Jen
SIDEWALK REPORTS
7:30-9 AM +++ Vince and Pat M
PAT: A peaceful, clear, and cold morning was had on the sidewalk today. I’m forever grateful for Vince leading us with the scriptural rosary where we managed to get in all for sets of the mysteries by 9 AM. Vince was joined by his brother Knights of Columbus from OLMC parish in the North Hills. My parish, St. Regis, was there with a total of seven participants. Thank you brother Knights Lud and Mike. Thank you Pat and Fran. A special thanks to first-time participant Janet. And thanks to my wife, Steph.
9-11 AM +++ Ken and Pat S
KEN: A cold day on Liberty Avenue but the sun was shining brightly through most of our shift. Pat and I prayed fifteen decades of the roasary, the chaplet of Devine Mercy and the petitions for life. We did have a brief moment when several loud pro abortion persons passed and cursed us for our prayerful prescense. It was a great blessing today to have Most Precious Blood of Jesus parish join us in prayer. It is always a joy when a parish brings a large group to the sidewalk to storm heaven for babies and moms.
11 AM-1 PM +++ Roseann and Rich
ROSEANN: Great to be with fellow parishioners of Most Precious Blood of Jesus as we witnessed for the unborn. We prayed Rosaries and Divine Mercy Chaplets. Unfortunately we had some negativity by passersby today but nothing we couldn’t handle.
1-3 PM +++ Andrew, Ann, and Sue
3-5 PM +++ Andy, Denise, and Steve
Coming soon!
Great commentary. It’s a keeper.
Jen, thank you for such a beautiful and profound reflection!
My son Owen is only 13 and is very pass about his Pro-Life stance he was very proud to do a shift with our church Cranberry Community Church on 3/22/25 was hoping to see our pics here!!! We will be back!!!