Both readings today speak to us in very stark terms. In the first reading, St Peter states that the current state of the world, including its values and desires, the present distribution of wealth, power, and fame, is temporary and will eventually change or be replaced. And of course, we are all faced with the reality that one day, we too shall all lie down together with our ancestors.

In the Gospel, Jesus curses the barren fig tree and, in the course of a night, it withered to its roots. Jesus' action is best understood as a form of a parable in which He foretells the destruction of those who do not produce good fruit in their lives. The Gospel passage today ends, however, with a promise by Jesus that those who have faith and live according to it, producing good fruit, will have the power to do marvelous deeds through their prayers.

How, then, is one to live? Returning to our first reading, St Peter urges us to be serious and sober-minded; to love one another intensely; to be hospitable, and finally, to use our gifts in service to one another. Jesus adds at the end of our Gospel passage that we must also forgive one another in order that we might be forgiven. Not bad advice for anyone living in these end times.