If you do not repent, you will all perish

Two tragic news of the day are reported to Jesus: the massacre of the Galileans zealots, and the victims of the collapse of the Siloam tower linked to the water tunnel under construction.

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The question is posed: Who was at fault?

Understandably, the Galileans were punished by the governor Pontius Pilate who took them as agitators against the Roman empire, but the random incident of the collapsed tower begs for a different answer: What is their guilt?

They were ordinary people just like the rest of the Jerusalem citizens.

Jesus does not pronounce himself on the matter of who were guilty. Rather, he directs the people's attention to something else.

The disasters should make them conscious of their own sinfulness.

Opportunities to repent are offered, as the parable of the barren fig tree shows.

But patience has its limits, and when disaster or judgment comes, the "barren person" has only himself or herself to blame.

First reading · Rom 8:1-11