March 22, 2026

Gospel: Mark, Chapter 11, verses 12–25
Homily of the Pontiff Samuel
Fifth Sunday of Lent

Have faith in God! Seek peace!
Do not be like the barren, cursed fig tree

(Draft: Automatic Translation)

Beloved brothers and sisters, joy lives in our hearts during this month in which we continue to celebrate our Patron Saint, just as we have done in recent days, celebrating Him solemnly, placing His figure and His example at the centre: a timeless example that must be for all Christians and for all people of good will (Lk 2:14), for all people, because Saint Joseph, before being a great Saint, was a great man, a true man, upright, good, generous, strong, obedient, docile, lovable (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, “Saint Joseph”, 19/03/1998). For this reason, the Father chose him to protect what was most dear to Him, His Son (Jn 1:14). And Saint Joseph fulfilled his calling, thus becoming a ‘Christian’, the first Christian, the first to have welcomed Christ (Mt 1:20–24).

Here is the example that accompanies us, just as Joseph’s Staff guides us, in these hard and difficult times, so that no one may lose the Way, so that no one may stray from the Truth of Christ, so that all may have Life (Jn 14:6), eternal Life (Jn 10:10). Here is Faith which, when placed at the centre, gives Life.

Faith: the theme of the Gospel passage that has just been proclaimed (Mk 11:22). Have faith in God (Act of the Magisterium, “The Christian Faith”, 27/10/2024)! This is the cry that the Evangelist proclaims and that we make our own, so that the world may hear this cry of Love and Hope. Have faith in God! Return to God! Return to living God’s teachings (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, “The Catechesis”, 01/01/1988), for only in this way can every mountain be overcome and moved (Mk 11:23): the mountains of hatred, the mountains of selfishness, the mountains of hypocrisy, the mountains of self-righteousness, and consequently the mountain of war which arises first and foremost in the hearts of men who turn away from God and His precepts, only to then plunge into an endless abyss.

Here is the suffering of Jesus, another theme evoked on this page. Jesus suffers at the sight of His House, a House that should have remained a place of prayer, becoming a den of thieves (Mk 11:17). This is what happened then, and this is what has happened again. And here is the suffering of Jesus, which is our suffering, in seeing that all this has caused a decline in values within the hearts of men, leading them now to experience these increasingly tragic scenarios of war, which will see the places of Jesus’ life razed to the ground, destroyed. Nothing of all this will remain. And this is suffering for Jesus.

Consequently, great is our suffering at seeing these signs—which should have remained—erased.

Such is the folly of man. After everything has been destroyed (Mt 24:2), I would like to say to so many: what will remain? What can be commanded any longer? What victory can be sung of, in this war being waged in the places that characterised the life of the Son of God?

There are those who want to destroy everything: they did not receive Him at first (Jn 1:11) and their sole aim is to destroy. There are those who are ready for anything, even to destroy themselves in order to destroy. And there are others who have joined forces, thinking they can obtain more, more, ever more (1 Tim 6:10). But when one desires too much, one will have nothing, but risks being reduced to nothing (Lk 9:25).

Has history taught you nothing? Even in the very same region, where a few years ago people went looking for what was not there, what was gained other than death and destruction? What stability? Fools and simpletons, slow of heart (Lk 24:25), for they do not learn from the mistakes of the past. And it is always and only the little ones, the least, the innocent who are crushed by all these people who suffer the consequences.

Here is my heartfelt and final appeal which I have made (Homily of Pope Samuel, “Samuel’s Appeal: Stop the War Now, Before True Destruction”, 15/03/2026) so that at least Christians—those who call themselves ‘Christian’, those who still possess a glimmer of truth, of love for the Truth—may unite with men of good will to put an end to this, to use the weapons of peace (Eph 6:11-17), before it is too late, before there is no turning back.

Stop now, for all that is written is coming to pass. It is all written in the Book of Books!

Behold, Divine Justice looms over this world, a world that no longer wishes to hear of Divine Justice, clinging only to a human justice which, even that, is being trampled underfoot. There is no longer any right; there is a law that is interpreted and used for one’s own ends. What law is this, if not that of the strongest crushing the weakest? This is true at every level, dear brothers and sisters. That is why it is not right that those entrusted with this task should never be held to account for their wickedness, for their mistakes. It is not right. Just as the little ones are held to account when they err, so too must the great be held to account when they err. That is why I say ‘yes’ to you, because it is not right.

Here is the barren fig tree in the ‘parable’ we have heard. Jesus passes by and curses that fig tree (Mk 11:13, 21).

And the fig tree, mark well, dear brothers and sisters, has a very profound symbolic meaning, for in Sacred Scripture the fig tree has a symbolic significance which, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, is often referred to: it signifies prosperity; it refers to the chosen people; the prophet Joel speaks of it (Joel 1:7). Other prophets speak of it: Isaiah (Is 28:4); Hosea speaks of it, saying: “Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel, like the first figs on the fig tree, in the beginning I saw your fathers” (Hos 9:10). The evangelist John also speaks of it, when Jesus meets Nathanael, who recognises Him and proclaims Him King of Israel and Son of God, and Jesus says to him: “I saw you when you were under the fig tree” (Jn 1:48–49). “Being under the fig tree” has great significance, for we find it again in the Messianic Age: then, as now.

In contrast, the “barren fig tree”, which bears no fruit of love or justice, is an image, a metaphor for the people who no longer bear these fruits and, consequently, Jesus curses them (Mk 11:14, 20–21). And if you no longer have God’s blessing, you are destined to wither and cease to be.

Here is that Covenant, the first Covenant, which has been ‘withered’, in that image which leads Jesus first to curse the fig tree and then to drive the merchants out of the temple (Mk 11:15–17), in a single act, a single Action to make it clear that that house, which had become a den of thieves, was no longer in covenant with God, just like that fig tree. And all this takes place in a single day, from morning to evening, as recorded in the Gospel: a single day. Just as in the Book of Genesis, we read that every important passage is marked by this temporal division: “And there was evening, and there was morning” (Gen 1:5).

So this is what happened then, in a full day, and this is what is happening, has happened now, in another full day, where once again Jesus has severed that Covenant which had been established with the early Christian people, with the house of Rome, in order to establish another, because that house no longer bears fruit of either love or justice, but bears fruit of apostasy (2 Thess 2:3), as everyone can see.

It is recent news that the current Roman Pontiff has been captured in a photograph whilst celebrating and worshipping Pachamama, a pagan idol, just as his predecessor had done in 2019, on 4 October and 7 October, allowing it to enter that temple, no longer a holy temple, but desecrated by these and other acts.

Here history repeats itself. Moreover, the prophet Micah foretells what was to come, and in the Old Testament he already envisions the Holy City as the centre of a new world where peace and prosperity will reign, where everyone will sit in safety under their vine and under their fig tree: Micah 4 (Mi 4:4). And so the Revelation brings us to what we are experiencing, that is, in the last days, where the apostle John, speaking in chapter 18 of the fall of Babylon – the great harlot seated upon the city of the seven hills (Rev 17:9): let those who wish to understand do so without distorting the understanding of the children of God: we are not speaking of Istanbul! – … and in this passage John says: “The light of a lamp will no longer shine in you; and the voice of bridegroom and bride will no longer be heard in you. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth; for all the nations were seduced by your sorcery” (Rev 18:23).

Behold the Justice of God looming and falling upon those who have betrayed the Covenant, who have betrayed His children: behold the harlot drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs (Rev 17:6). And all this, clearly, has repercussions for the whole world which, in the light of this first grave error, consequently losing its bearings, losing the Light, losing the Way, losing the Guide, strays even further. And this is what is being fulfilled – what has happened – is happening before our very eyes.

That is why to the world of good will, which truly wishes to pray to Heaven, I say, to civil society: restore order, first and foremost moral order, if you wish to raise your voice and prayer to God so that Almighty God the Father may hear you. Let us start afresh, restoring what is God’s Order. “God”: love the Lord your God with all your heart (Mt 22:37). “Family”: love your neighbour as yourself (Mt 22:39). And “Work”, which serves to support the family and must not become an idol. There is but one family willed by God, that which is formed in the union between man and woman: “Male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27)!

O world, if you wish to pray and be heard by God, return to order, and put an end to the moral disorder in which you revel. You, rulers, rediscover the true Law, which is God’s, and abolish unjust laws so that this world may rediscover the holy Order and then be able to invoke God, the Almighty Father, and ask for what is due. Here is the appeal to Christians and people of good will to take action: rulers, leaders of the nations of this continent, so that you may turn things around and leave a mark that brings everything back to God.

Here is the example of Saint Joseph, of the Holy Family, which returns to being the centre (Act of the Magisterium, “The Reciprocity of Love in the Holy Family and the Mystery of Life”, 29/12/2024). Let us return to the Holy Family and His Holy teaching so that we may return to communion with God and pray to Him by lifting our eyes to Heaven, rather than having to bow our heads in shame.

Be holy, children of God (Act of Magisterium, “The Generation of Saints”, 23/03/2025)! Be holy, all you men of good will, so that this world may rediscover the lost Light and overcome the darkness that hangs over this world (Jn 1:5).

Let us entrust ourselves once more to Mary, the Holy Mother, to consecrate ourselves daily to Her Immaculate Heart (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, “Mary, I consecrate myself to You”, 10/03/1986) and to ask Her, Saint Joseph, and the Child Jesus that we may be grafted onto the Tree of Life which stands in contrast to the barren fig tree. The barren fig tree on one side, the Tree of Life on the other, planted at the centre of the Holy City (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, “The Holy City”, 23/06/1996), which with its fruits, which will never end, will feed the peoples.

The Son of God said: “I am hungry” (Mk 11:12). What is Jesus hungry for? He is hungry for love, dear brothers and sisters, just as men are hungry for the Only-Begotten Love.

Cursed be you, fig tree (cf. Rev 16:19b; 18:2): no one will be able to eat from you any more (Mk 11:14)! Your bread will no longer feed, for it is poisoned bread.

Whoever wishes to eat, let them come to the Holy City. Whoever wishes to drink, let them come and quench their thirst at the Fountain of the Water of Life (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, “The Fountain of Mercy and Peace”, 19/04/1998), where Christ and Mary are ready to welcome everyone so that all may be grafted onto that Tree which feeds with its fruits and heals with its leaves (Rev 22:2), now and forever. So be it.