Friday, November 27, 2015
1st Reading: Dn 7:2-14
Gospel: Lk 21:29-33
Jesus said to his disciples, “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. As soon as their buds sprout, you know that summer is already near. In the same way, as soon as you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all this has happened: heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Jesus pointed out to his listeners how trees can indicate not just changes in seasons but also the cosmic end that precedes the coming of God’s kingdom. Trees today are no longer reliable indicators of both.
Their patterns are no longer in step with the rhythm of nature because of human neglect and cruelty.
There is a Spanish saying attributed to Cuban poet Jose Marti. It is an advice to people wanting to perpetuate themselves to do three things: plant a tree, sire a child and write a book. I have done the first many times, and attempted to do the third. But I had given up the second when I entered the seminary at the age of 15.
Many friends have asked me to compile my gospel columns and come up with a book. I said I will plant enough trees first in order to make up for the trees that will be cut to produce the pages of my book.
What a convenient excuse to evade this time consuming task! Nonetheless it is true that a book costs a lot of trees. According to a research a ton of paper is equivalent to 17 trees. Would that there be a system of certifying authors as green authors by requiring them to plant trees before coming up with another book!
In siring a child parents can also go green. Parishes, for example, can require parents to plant trees before their child is scheduled for baptism. Parents can also mark every birthday of their child with a tree planting activity. I commend the owners of a resort in Badian, Cebu for gifting honeymooners with a seedling and accommodating their seedling in the resort garden. Their names are etched on small slabs marking the seedling they plant so that in their next visit they can identify which among the trees in the resort garden is the one they had planted at their honeymoon.
The word ‘tree’ appears 50 times in its singular form while 11 times in its plural form in the New Testament. When Jesus invited people to observe changes in trees in order to anticipate the end of times and the coming of God’s kingdom, he was using trees as medium to drive home an important message. With the sad state of our trees today, the medium has become the message. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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