Lord God, you who has cared well for us, incline our hearts to nurture those that need it, lest we heap further punishment and abuse on those who struggle and instead give support to them that they may one day bear good fruit, through Christ the vine, through whom we connect and receive life from the Father in the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.’” – Luke 13:7-9