Third Sunday of Lent (Year C)
First Reading - Isaiah 55.6-7
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Turn away
from your wicked ways,
and turn to the Lord,
for the Lord is ready to welcome you.
Turn away
from your plotting for injustice,
and call upon the Lord,
for the Lord is near.
Return to the Lord your God,
for God will have mercy,
and freely forgive.
This is the word of the Lord.
Second Reading - 1 Corinthians 10.1-6,9-13
A reading from the first letter of Paul
to the Corinthians.
Our ancestors
passed through the Red Sea,
and were then
guided through the wilderness
by the cloud
that went before them.
It was as though they were
baptised into Moses,
first in the sea, and then in the cloud.
There in the wilderness, they ate spiritual food,
and they drank spiritual drink,
from the rock that was surely Christ.
And still, they rebelled against God,
and were struck down.
And this becomes a warning
for us, in our own time,
not to pursue evil as they did;
and not to put Christ to the test,
or complain, as they did,
for it led to their destruction.
So when you are
most confident
that all is well, and that you are standing firm,
it is then
that you should
take the most care
that you do not fall.
And when you are most fully aware
of your trials and your weaknesses,
it is then
that you can be reassured
that any temptation or adversity that comes upon you
has been suffered by others before.
God is faithful, and will not
let you be tested
beyond your strength;
but will ensure, in every situation,
that there is always a way through,
and that you will have the strength
to endure.
This is the word of the Lord.
Gospel - Luke 13.1-9
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to Luke.
A report
reached Jesus
and the disciples
that some Galileans
had been killed,
by Pilate,
while they were
offering sacrifices
in the temple.
Jesus said, ‘Do not be thinking
that these
were the worst sinners
in Galilee;
for unless
you repent,
you will all
surely perish
in the same way.
And you know about
the eighteen who were killed
when the tower of Siloam
fell on them.
Do not be thinking
that they
were the worst sinners
in Jerusalem;
for unless
you repent,
you will all
surely perish
in the same way.’
And he told them
this parable:
‘The owner of a vineyard
had a fig tree,
and came looking for fruit on it,
but there was none.
The owner of the vineyard
said to the keeper
of the vineyard,
“For three years now, I have come
looking for fruit
on this fig tree,
but found none.
Cut it down!
It is a waste of good land!”
But the keeper of the vineyard
pleaded, “Allow it one more year,
while I dig around it,
and put manure on it.
If it finally
bears fruit,
let it be;
and only
if it then
still bears
no fruit,
cut it down.”’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.