Beloved, the third Sunday of the Season of Lent, our Sunday Gospel prepares us to hear Lent's call to conversion and repentance. Jesus has been teaching about the Kingdom of God. In this parable of the fig tree, we find an image of God's patience and hopefulness as he prepares his Kingdom. God calls us to repent, and it is within his power to punish us for our failure to turn from our sinfulness. And yet God is merciful.  He delays punishment and tends to us so that we may yet bear the fruit he desires from us.