The spiritual life can be frustrating, and it’s tempting to rush our progress. Today’s reflection reminds us that growth requires patience, and that we are nourished by God even when we can’t see the fruits.

March 23, 2025: Third Sunday of Lent, Year C
Exodus 3:1–8a, 13–15
Psalm 103: 1–4, 6–8, 11
1 Corinthians 10:1–6, 10–12
Luke 13:1–9

Slow Fruits: On Patience in the Spiritual Life

A reflection by Carter Fahey

There is often such a focus on the “action” of Lent. What are we giving up? What are we adding? It can begin to feel as if we need to do more, be the best, or have the most spiritual experiences. In short, it becomes a competition, and we lose sight of the purpose of our Lenten practices—to grow in our faith and open ourselves to God.  

At this point in the season, we’ve had a few weeks to settle into our practices, and we can get a better sense of them. Perhaps there’s a practice that you’re finding difficult to commit to, or something which is nourishing your faith. Perhaps, though, you are finding that this desert through which we wander is a dry place, where nourishment seems hard to come by. Like the Psalmist, many of us find ourselves thirsting for God (Ps. 63:2):

...for you my soul is thirsting.

My body pines for you

like a dry, weary land without water.

It is easy, in such times, to get frustrated with ourselves, or even frustrated with God. “Why isn’t anything happening? Why does my prayer feel so forced? Why does it seem like everyone is making more progress than me?” We become impatient with our faith life, and see it as an indication that we are doing something wrong. We may even question whether our prayer is worth the time we invest, and whether we should abandon our Lenten commitments in favor of some other practice. Like the vineyard owner in today’s Gospel, we fail to remember that growth takes time. “For three years now I have come out in search of fruit on this fig tree and found none. Cut it down” (Lk. 13:7).

But the Gospel reading also provides us with an important reminder: when we are frustrated or in a difficult period, we are prone to destroy the tree before the fruit has a chance to grow. Christ reminds us that we must continue in faithful patience, allowing our prayer and practices time to fully mature before we consider uprooting them.

But patience does not mean inaction! In order for the tree to produce a fruitful harvest, it must be nourished and tended to, watered and cared for. There is always something to do in the garden of the soul. We must be consistent and persistent in this work of prayer, through which God is nourishing us.

This nourishment is prominent in today’s liturgy. In the Divine Office, one of the responses reminds the faithful that Christ is the “bread of life and understanding,” and that the “water of wisdom” flows from him to quench our thirst. Another cites Jesus’ proclamation: “Any who are thirsty, let them come to me and drink! Those who believe in me, as the scripture says, ‘From their innermost being will flow rivers of living water’” (Jn. 37­–39). The themes of loving care and nourishment appear repeatedly in the psalms of the day; the Psalmist speaks of them as he addresses God (Ps. 145:15–16):

The eyes of all creatures look to you

and you give them their food in due time.

You open wide your hand,

grant the desires of all who live.

These truths are repeated over and over, exhorting us to remember that, as we journey through the desert, we are given the bread of life and the living water which God promises in Isaiah 41:18:

I will open rivers on the bare heights,

and fountains in the midst of the valleys;

I will make the wilderness a pool of water,

and the dry land springs of water.

God’s generous abundance never deserts us, even in the dry wilderness. We are well-tended—but we must have the patience and perseverance to wait for the fruit.

Carter Fahey (he/him) is the Associate Editor of Breath of the Spirit and studied at Oxford. He is a convert and has an interest in doing outreach work to Catholic communities to combat misinformation and create opportunities for community among LGBTQIA+ people.

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