Mc 11,11-25 – Friday of the VIII Week of Ordinary Time
On a superficial reading, today’s Gospel page might seem like the story of a bad day for Jesus. First the fig tree cursed because it bears no fruit, then the harsh gesture in the Temple against the merchants. MIn reality, we are not talking about moods or impulsive reactions here.
Jesus is touching something much deeper. The fig tree full of leaves but without fruit becomes the symbol of a life that lives on appearance. Of course, from a natural point of view, an out-of-season fig might not even bear fruit. But Jesus wants to provoke his disciples on another level: there is no right time to convert always postponed until tomorrow. Very often we think that one day we will take the Gospel seriously, one day we will change our lives, one day we will become better. In the meantime we are satisfied with the leaves, that is, with the appearance, with the intentions, with the promises that have never been fulfilled.
Jesus, on the other hand, reminds us that the time of fruit is always the present. Real life happens now. THEholiness is not something to be postponed until everything is perfect. And immediately after the Gospel shows us Jesus driving the merchants out of the Temple. This gesture must also be understood well. It is not an outburst of anger, but a very clear denunciation: love cannot be transformed into commerce. With God you cannot buy or sell anything. Faith cannot be lived as an exchange of interests, as a religious negotiation.
God loves freely and asks us to learn the same gratuitousness. When faith becomes calculation, convenience or the search for advantages, it ceases to be evangelical faith. Only an external religiosity remains, in practice we are just pagans disguised as religious people.
Friday 29 May 2026 – (Friday of the VIII Week of Ordinary Time – Even Year)
