Twenty-seventh Sunday in the year
Year A - Mt. 21:33-43
"Jesus said, «Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a
hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went
into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get
his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again
he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son
to them, saying, `They will respect my son. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to
themselves, `This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. And they took him and
cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what
will he do to those tenants?» They said to him, «He will put those wretches to a miserable death,
and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.»
"Jesus said to them, «Have you never read in the scriptures: `The very stone which the builders
rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our
eyes' (Ps. 117, 22-23) ? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and
given to a nation producing the fruits of it.»"
RELIGIOUS CRISIS
José Antonio Pagola.
The parable of the “assassin tenants” is a story in which Jesus goes about describing with allegorical
accents God’s history with the chosen people. It is a sad story. God has taken care of this people
from the beginning with complete tenderness. They were God’s “chosen vineyard”. God was
hoping to make of them a model people for justice and fidelity. They would be a “great light” for all
peoples.
However that people went about rejecting and killing one after another the prophets that God was
sending them to harvest the fruits of a more just life. Finally, in an incredible act of love, God sent
them God’s own Son. But the leaders of that people made an end of him. What could God do with a
people who betrays God’s hopes in such a blind and stubborn manner?
The religious leaders that are listening attentively to the story respond spontaneously in the same
language as the parable: the lord of the vineyard can’t do anything but put such tenants to death and
place his vineyard in the hands of others. Jesus quickly presents a conclusion that they weren’t
expecting: “I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people
who will produce its fruit.”
Commentator and preachers have frequently interpreted Jesus’ parable as a reaffirmation of the
Christian Church as “the new Israel” to follow the Jewish people that, after Jerusalem was
destroyed in 70 CE, was dispersed throughout the world.
However, the parable is also talking about ourselves. An honest reading of the text forces us to ask
ourselves serious questions: Are we producing in our times “the fruits” that God expects of God’s
people - justice for the excluded, solidarity, compassion toward those who suffer, forgiveness…
God doesn’t have to bless a sterile Christianity from which God receives none of the fruits God is
hoping for. God doesn’t have to identify Self with our mediocrity, our inconsistencies, our
deviations, our lack of faithfulness. If we don’t respond to God’s expectations, God will keep
opening up new paths to the project of salvation with other people who produce fruits of justice.
We talk about a “religious crisis”, “de-Christianization”, “the abandonment of religious practice”…
Won’t God prepare the path that makes possible the birth of a Church that is more faithful to the
project of God’s reign? Isn’t this crisis necessary in order to bring about the birth of a Church that is
less powerful but more evangelical, less numerous but more given to build a more human world?
Won’t there arise new generations that are more faithful to God?
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Matthew 21:33-43
Aesop tells of a dog with a bone. He crosses a bridge over a stream. He looks at his reflection. He
decides it is a second dog with a bigger bone. He goes for the bone. His own falls to the stream's
bottom. Now he has no bone. The tenants of today's parable are similar. Because of greed, they lost
their jobs. Some concede Jesus was the greatest man who ever lived. Beyond that they cannot go.
However, we must make our choice.
Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. (CS Lewis) The
proof of a superior story does not consist in its original telling but rather in how often it's retold. On
this count, today's Parable of the Tenants qualifies as world-class. It has been retold countless times
for 2,000 years. The parable was spoken on Tuesday or Wednesday of Holy Week. It is a parable of
defiance. (Wiliiam Barclay) Christ knows He is about to be assassinated. But He calls the bluff of
His murderers. He has no intention of running scared. He is ready for His gunfight at the OK
Corral. In disecting a parable, it is usually a given that it has only one meaning and that modifying
clauses are not to be emphasized. But this parable is not in that class. Here each item has a point.
Furthermore, no point went over the heads of His audience that day.
Nor were the hearers amused. Neither should we be. Jesus describes a situation not rare in Israel.
The nation was as politically and economically troubled as it is today. Wealthy absentee landlords
were common. Labor problems abounded. Some tenant-farmers working for low wages declined to
pay rents. Rent strikes are not a 21st century invention. Thus, when the landlord sent his agents and
even his son to pick up his rents, the hapless fellows were often abused and even murdered. Christ's
audience had read of such incidents in the Jerusalem Times over coffee and bagels. They nodded
their heads in understanding. The vineyard was a stand-in for Israel's people. The owner is God.
The farmers are the rulers and priests who run the country. The servants are the prophets down
through the centuries. Their murders make up an unbroken obituary column throughout the
Scriptures. The son is Jesus the Christ. The tale tells of God's confidence in people.
He loans His land to us. He does not stand over us like a bullying cop nor even a watchful one. He
is patient with us too. He sends us not one messenger but many. Even, when we ignore them, He,
unlike ourselves, will suffer insults for a long time. A novel's hero says it is not the peace of God
that surpasses understanding but rather the pain He is willing to endure from our sins. But God is
not to be trifled with. He is equal parts tremendous lover and exacting judge. The story does warn of
a time when God will call in all the chips owed to Him. If we don't make up, the land will be given
to others. We will be losers with our noses pressed on the glass looking in at the party. The Parable
of the Tenants tells us what Jesus thought about Himself. The agents who preceded Him were the
prophets. Yet, exalted as they were, they were but errand boys.
For there is only one Son. He is the Christ. Do you see now it is not enough to say the Nazarene
was a great man? One must choose whether He is divine or a madman or something worse. This
parable contains one of the clearest claims Jesus ever made to being an original. He considers
Himself miles above the greatest prophet. He is without peer. Language betrays us when we try to
speak correctly of Him. Matthew's Gospel tells us of the sacrifice of Jesus. Even though He knew
the outcome, He went to His rendezvous with death with both eyes at full attention.
He was not a passive participant in His own destruction. He was not a Billy Budd. Herman
Melville, Budd's creator, would laugh at such a comparison. Gary Cooper's role in High Noon fits
Him better. Jesus the Christ is what He was yesterday and will be tomorrow: none other than the
Second Person of the Holy Trinity. The world says to us, "Follow me and fit in." Jesus says,
"Follow me and stand out." (Max Lucado) Make your choice. Jesus does not want us to go where
the path may lead. He wants us to go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. (Ralph Waldo
Emerson)
27th Sunday: Actions and Consequences
The parable in today's gospel begins with numerous references to the first reading from the prophet
Isaiah. In that reading a vineyard is meticulously prepared. It is put on good ground; the soil is
spaded; it is cleared of stones; the very best of vines are planted; a hedge is put up to keep the
animals out, and a watchtower is built to protect the vineyard from thieves. But the vineyard is still
a failure. You get the sense that despite the preparations, the vineyard refused to produce good
grapes. This points to the Hebrew people who were lovingly prepared to bear fruit for God, but who
rejected God.
The Lord complains that He looked for justice. Biblically, justice means a relationship where the
people are one with God. Instead, the people rejected God and chose bloodshed. Today's Gospel
repeats God's complaint, only the parable becomes more specific. What was it that the people had
done and were still doing?
They rejected God's emissaries, the prophets. Later on in the twenty-third chapter of the Gospel of
Matthew Jesus would weep over Jerusalem because the city kills the prophets and stones God's
messengers. What is worse, like in the parable, the son, Jesus himself, would be taken outside of the
vineyard, outside of the city and killed. As you know, Jesus was not crucified in Jerusalem, but on
that horrible hill, Golgotha, just outside of the city walls. Why?
Why did they hate him so much as to demand his crucifixion? Jesus upset the status quo, their
cushy lifestyle. The chief priests, the Sanhedrin and all the leaders of the people had a comfortable
living. Then this Jesus shows up, not just challenging their authority, but demonstrating to the
people that their leaders were concerned about themselves, not concerned about caring for God's
people. Those with power did not want to be challenged by anyone, certainly not by some
commoner from Galilee. Even worse, they knew that He was right. But following Him would
demand that they change their lives radically. They would not do this. Jesus had to go. So they
seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. But they could not destroy God's plan.
The Kingdom of God would be taken away from them and given to a people that would produce
fruit.
When you think about it the readings are a bit scary, absolutely frightening to tell the truth. The
readings are demanding that we bear fruit or have the Kingdom of God taken from us. This is
contrary to the popular feel good concept of Divine Justice. I am referring to the attitude in life that
results from reducing God to a Barney figure who does not hold us accountable for our actions.
Yes, we commend our dead to the mercy and compassion of God. And yes, we ask Mary to pray for
us sinners now and at the hour of our death. But our prayers do not absolve us from our present
responsibility to live as the Lord told us to live and to do the work of God. We have to move from
the mentality that we can get away with purposely behaving badly, acting without concern for the
consequences of our actions. All of us our tempted to believe that God will forgive us no matter
how badly or how often we reject Him. This is contrary to Scripture. This is why we teach our
children from the time they can understand right and wrong about sin and responsibility, God's love
and mercy. Sure, their sins are as little as they are.
And it often takes a lot of self control on the part of the priests hearing their confessions to keep
from laughing, particularly when they tell you things like, "I called my brother a poopy face,” but
the child has learned it is wrong to say nasty things to others, and that he or she is not behaving like
God calls him or her to behave. The forgiveness of penance is tied to a determination to fight
against sin. This is something that even a little child understands. Mommy and Daddy forgive, but
call them to be better. God does the same, only with an infinitely deeper understanding of the
person seeking forgiveness. Many of our Middle School, High School and college students
experience classmates doing really bad things involving disrespect of others as well as disrespect
for their own bodies. Our young people often feel that they are surrounded by people who act as
though there are no consequences for their selfishness. They, and all of us for that matter, are
tempted to think that since our own sins are not as horrible as those around us, we do not need to be
concerned about the consequences.
I often tell them that it is the good kid who stumbles just once that is often seated in the back seat of
the police car while the ones who are habitual offenders look on and laugh. Their actions, although
more frequent and worst, do not lesson the gravity of the those of the one in that back seat. I am
sure many of us, beginning with me, have said to the police officer who stops us for speeding, "But
I was not going as fast as the other cars,” only to hear, "You were still speeding.” Our actions are
judged in themselves, not in relationship to the actions of others. In the end, as Blessed Mother
Theresa said, we will be judged by how well we have loved. Not only are we called to take
responsibility for our actions, we are also called to recognize the consequences of our inaction. In
the parable the keepers of the vineyard are condemned for not producing fruit.
We are called to lead others to God, particularly within our own families. This is put concisely in
the recent Sanctus Real song, Lead Me. In the song, the father of the family accuses himself of
chasing dreams, chasing things he could give up, while his wife and family are asking him, "What
about us?” The father calls upon God to help him fight against anything that keeps him from giving
his best to his family. That is what we all need to do. We need to ask God to help us fight against
anything that is keeping us from giving our best to His people. He has entrusted His vineyard, His
Kingdom to us. We need to produce. But we cannot do this alone. Nor do we have to. God is
present with His Grace to help us fight off the temptations to push Him aside. We receive
communion weekly for the strength to care for His vineyard. Actions have consequences.
This is not restricted to the negative. Good actions have good consequences. In the conclusion of
the parable, those who made the best use of the talents that God has given them hear, "Well done,
good and faithful servants, enter into the joy of your master.” He will say that to us also if we live in
a way determined to bear fruit for the Kingdom.
Trust No Matter What (October 5, 2014)
Message:
St. Bede evidences the trust in God that St. Paul describes. Last week I began a homily series titled
Trust No Matter What. Trust. Trust God. Trust God no matter what. We saw the example of St.
Lorenzo Ruiz. Suspended upside down by a rope, he experienced a torment that increased as the
hours passed. Lorenzo's torturers told him the trial could stop if he renounced Christ. Lorenzo
replied that if he had a thousand lives, he would give them all for Jesus.
Those words express trust no matter what. Today I give an example from a different place and a
different time: Northern England at the end of the seventh century. It involves a boy named Bede.
Not "bead" (b-e-a-d) as in a rosary, but the proper name, Bede (b-e-d-e). When he was seven his
parents sent him to a monastery. For the next seven years he did chores, studied and joined in the
hours of community prayer. In 686 a plague swept through that part of England. It killed everyone
in the monastery except Bede and the monk Ceolfrith.* The boy realized he had been spared - but
for what? At first he and Fr. Ceolfrith spent their time burying and praying the hours: six in the
morning, nine, noon, 3 pm, 6, night prayer about 8 - and then rising in the middle of the night
around 3 am to pray again. Little by little other men, survivors of the plague, began to join them.
They took up the work of farming and copying manuscripts. Historians have a document from 692
showing that the monastery obtained land for 2000 head of cattle. Why 2000? That was the number
needed to make enough cowhide vellum for the three Bibles that Abbot Ceolfrith commissioned.
What happened to Bede's monastery reflects what we heard today from Isaiah: First, God reducing
his vineyard to ruin by plague, then slowly rebuilding. As the Psalm says, "Take care of this vine
and protect what your right hand has planted." God spared Bede but for what? For sure to rebuild
the monastery and carry on the task of preserving the Bible and the great works of the ancient
world. But for Bede God had an additional purpose: to compile a history of the English people.
Without Bede's history we would not know the roots of the English nation which are also the roots
of our country which branched from England. The big story is how the English peoples moved from
paganism to Christianity. In one chapter Bede tells how a local king named Edwin became
Christian. Gathered in a mead hall (a large building with a single room) with his soldiers and
nobles, King Edwin listened to accounts of the new religion. As the log fire burned, a sparrow
entered once side and quickly flew out the other side. Bede recounts how one councilor reflected
that our life is like the flight of that sparrow.** We do not know its origin nor do we know where it
goes as it disappears into the darkness. That reflection helped Edwin not only to embrace Christ, but
to become a model king. Bede gives this summary of his reign: "Whenever King Edwin’s power
extended, as is said proverbially right up to today, even if a woman with a recently born child
wanted to walk across the whole island, from sea to sea, she could do so without anyone harming
her."
With these Christian roots England developed a culture which brought us writers like Chaucer and
Shakespeare, literary works like Beowulf and Lord of the Rings, scientists like Roger Bacon and
Isaac Newton, Christian writers like Cardinal Newman, G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis. The
English were hardly all saints and their history has shameful chapters (as does our own), but they at
least partially fulfilled Jesus' words that we heard today, "A people that will produce much fruit."
Through Bede we know the roots of that culture. Saint Bede made another contribution that I
alluded to last week. On September 21, 1953, a boy in Argentina was setting out to celebrate
Student Day. (September 21 is the beginning of spring in the southern hemisphere.) On his way to
the celebration he felt drawn to a church. A priest was in the confessional and the boy entered. We
don't know what the boy said to the priest or the priest to the boy, but it changed his life. He left the
confessional knowing that God was calling him to the priesthood.
The 16-year-old was Jorge Bergoglio who is now Pope Francis. Well, September 21 is the Feast of
St. Matthew and the reading for that day comes from St. Bede. Bede says that Jesus looked at
Matthew with mercy and then called him. Pope Francis took those words for his coat of arms. In
Bede's original Latin: "Miserando atque Eligendo." The English translation reads that Jesus "saw
him through the eyes of mercy and chose him." Do those words of Bede not sum up Pope Francis'
message: mercy and election? Mercy and election also describe the life of St. Bede.*** Spared from
the plague he recognized God singling him out for a mission. Next week I will tell you about a
youth who, in the midst of terrible loss, heard God's call.
He's a man of our time. Some call him "The Man of the Century." But the most important thing
about him is his trust in God no matter what. That will be next week. Today I want to leave you
with this image: A man who, in spite of his early traumas, could calmly contemplate the flight of a
sparrow and reflect on the brevity of human existence.**** St. Bede evidences the trust in God that
St. Paul describes today, "Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all
understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Amen.
The kingdom taken from the unrepentant Matthew 21:33-43
Background: In the Gospels of October we witness Jesus doing intellectual and religious battle with
his redoubtable foes, the scribes and the Pharisees – the scholars and the religious enthusiasts of his
time. Doubtless the edge of the controversy in the early church was shaped by the fact that some of
the Jewish leaders had thrown Christian Jews out of the synagogues. Hence the writers of the
gospels reached back into the traditions which had come down from Jesus which emphasized his
skills in rabbinical argument. However, there can be no doubt that he did argue effectively with
some of the leaders of the Jewish people and that these arguments were occasions for teaching that
impacts on us even if the original controversial context has waned.
Thus the parable of the vine and the vineyard, deeply rooted the imagery of the Jewish Scriptures
can just as easily be applied to Christians who are not responsive to the teaching of Jesus. Story:
Once upon a time, a young certain priest worked very hard in establishing a program for the teens in
his parish.
He scheduled dances (at which no one danced, save girls with other girls, of course), basketball
leagues softball leagues, volley ball leagues (for both genders, naturally), picnics, skating parties,
retreats, plays, concerts. He did most of the work (along with some parents) because while the teens
enthusiasms were great, their memories were not so great. Everyone one flocked to the teen club,
not only from his parish but from the parishes all around.
The priest often went back to the rectory at night after the teens had departed and the parish was
safe again, almost too tired to sleep. Since the teems told him that the summer was boring, he set up
a big summer program for them. You know what happened? Sure you know what happened? No
one Came! Too busy lolling around the park and complaining about the heat. So he shut the whole
operation down and began to work with senior citizens.
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, Classic Sunday,
October 5, 2014 Matthew 21:33-43
Gospel Summary
The parable of the wicked tenants also appears with some variations in Mk 12: 1-12 and Lk 20: 918. In Matthew's gospel it is the second in a trilogy of judgment parables, preceded by the parable
of the Two Sons and followed by the parable of the Marriage Feast. Jesus addresses the parable to
the chief priests and elders of the people.
Using the vineyard image of Isaiah 5:1-7, he tells the story of a landowner who leases his vineyard
to tenants, and goes on a journey. At harvest time, when he sends servants to obtain his produce, the
tenants maltreat and even kill his servants. The landowner finally sends his son. The evil tenants kill
the son, hoping thereby to acquire his inheritance. After finishing the story, Jesus asks his hearers
what they think the owner of the vineyard will do.
They answer that the evil tenants will be put to death, and the vineyard will be leased to other
tenants who will give him the produce at harvest time. Jesus then turns their own judgment against
themselves: in the same way, the kingdom of God will be taken from them and given to a people
who will produce good fruit.
Life Implications As Brevard S. Childs points out in his book Biblical Theology of the Old and
New Testaments, the key to recognizing the life implications of the parable lies in its link to the Old
Testament. It is a "juridical parable" in which a prophet tells a story with the intention of drawing
its hearers into bringing their judgment back upon themselves. The classic example is the story
Nathan told King David about the rich man who took a poor man's only ewe lamb to make a meal
for a visitor. Nathan, like Jesus, waits for the hearer of the parable to make a judgment.
David, of course, declares that the man who did the evil deed merits death. The prophet Nathan,
alluding to David's sinful taking of Uriah's wife, says to the king: "You are the man" (2 Sam 12: 112). This Sunday's homily will work if we are drawn into the extended meaning of the parable
which Matthew develops. The tenants entrusted with God's vineyard, no longer in parable, but in
reality, have killed many of his prophets and finally have killed his son, Jesus.
What judgment will God make against these tenants? Our common sense readily makes the
judgment that divine justice demands punishment for these evil deeds. The crucial point of the
homily is that Jesus, the now-vindicated Risen Lord, addresses each of us as tenants of God's
vineyard today. He turns our judgment upon those who rejected him and the prophets before him
back upon ourselves. Have we in fact produced the good fruit of justice and love? Do we at times
forget that we are only tenants, and imagining ourselves as owners, we do as we please?
Do we amass more of its fruit than we could possibly use while others die of starvation? Do we also
act with violence against our fellow human beings, sons and daughters of God? The prayer of our
liturgy today is that we will receive the grace to open our hearts to the prophetic voice of Jesus and
become a people who produce abundant good fruit in accord with God's will.
TWENTY-SEVENTH Sunday
Isaiah 5, 1-7; Psalm 80; Philippians 4, 6-9; Matthew 21, 33-43
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Through the parable of the vineyard Jesus reprimands the "chief
priests and elders of the people" gathered around him. They are the tenant farmers of the parable to
whom the precious vineyard has been entrusted by the property owner. The chief priests and elders
had been placed in charge of the law, the prophecies, the sacrifices and all the riches which God
bestowed upon the Chosen People. When the owner attempts to collect the harvest, the tenants turn
against him and beat and kill not only the slaves he sends but also the son.
The tenants kill the son, so dear to the father, precisely because he is the son, adding viciousness to
the abomination of murder. Their greedy purpose: to seize the inheritance which by right belongs to
the son. The Father had presumed that they would respect him as owner and therefore also his son.
The chief priests and scribes will be present among those calling for Christ's death, the "son" of the
parable on the first Good Friday in Jerusalem. The chief priests and elders prided themselves on
their righteousness in keeping the Law. Jesus invites their judgment: "What do you think the owner
of the vineyard will do?" By their own words they stand accused: "He will bring that wicked crowd
to a bad end and lease his vineyard out to others who will see to it that he has grapes at vintage
time." Though the first to receive God's law, they had come to reject it's fulfillment in Jesus the
Messiah.
Christ will die rejected by the very people entrusted with all that was needed to know and believe
that He is indeed the Son of God. The Church of Christ will be given, not to those people chosen
and prepared for Him from the beginning, but instead to those who believe in Him and reverence
Him as Lord.
Christ is the summation, the completion, the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets. As a result,
the "vineyard", the Church which leads to the kingdom, will become the inheritance of those who
approach the Lord in faith and baptism. In every age there are some who wrap themselves in the
Catholic name for the purpose of denying Christ, or corrupting the faith and morals of God's people.
This is putting our Lord to death, He who seeks to come alive in the hearts men through faith. There
are some groups today who organize under the name “Catholic” for the purpose of denying the faith
of the Church Catholic. There is no Church without the faith by which we know and believe the
truth! The faith precedes us, whole and entire, in the Church.
We either humbly and gratefully receive the entire orthodox faith in all its vigor and purity, or by
rejecting it we excommunicate ourselves from Christ and His Church. Those do not hope in vain for
whom nothing will suffice but the truth and who seek it in sincerity, whole and entire, in Jesus who
is the same yesterday, today and forever. The world is full of alternative ecclesial bodies for those
who want only a part of the truth, or who want a Christ of their own making, or who seek various
compromises with error. The Church in its official teaching has sought above all to never
compromise with error.
This marvelous reality has been accomplished only in the Holy Spirit, and is a divine work. The
Church is useless without Christ her Lord, the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Church exists to
teach the Truth. Those sin against the Holy Spirit and deny Christ who attack the charism of
celibacy, the male priesthood, the ministry of the Pope as Christ's Vicar and our teacher in matters
of faith and morals. These are treasures bestowed upon the Church from the beginning by Christ
and cannot be denied or compromised. The Catechism quotes a passage from the document Lumen
Gentium of the Second Vatican Council in this regard. ”The Church is a cultivated field, the tillage
of God. On that land the ancient olive tree grows whose holy roots were the prophets and in which
the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles has been brought about and will be brought about again.
That land, like a choice vineyard, has been planted by the heavenly cultivator. Yet the true vine is
Christ who gives life and fruitfulness to the branches, that is, to us, who through the Church remain
in Christ, without whom we can do nothing.” (CCC 755)
There is no salvation outside of the Church for those who commit apostasy, who deny their Catholic
faith once having truly understood and embraced the Faith. To reject the true Church and her
orthodox teaching is to reject Christ and His Salvation, for all graces by which he saves us come
through His bride: the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. ” The Church...which is called 'that
Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb.
It is she whom Christ 'loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her.' It is
she whom he unites to himself by an unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly 'nourishes and
cherishes.' “(CCC 757) Be children of the Church! Let's pray for each other until, again next week,
we "meet Christ in the liturgy",
Homily:
"Jesus said, «Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a
hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went
into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get
his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again
he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them.»"
The parable of which today's gospel is comprised is situated in the same context as last Sunday's: it
is quite probable that this parable was told by Jesus three days before his death. Thus, one sees the
theme of the Passion of the Savior throughout this text, beginning with the hardships that had to be
endured by those sent by the owner of the vineyard, before he sent his own son.
"There was a householder who planted a vineyard." This householder is, of course, the image of
our Heavenly Father, our Creator, he who has disposed everything with order in the universe. In the
beginning, God created heaven and earth, and made man in his image (cf. Gn. 1:1 and 26). God
also ordered Adam, the first man, to till and keep the garden of Eden, that Paradise of delight: "The
Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it." (Gn. 2:15) The
parable told by Jesus makes a clear allusion to this passage from Genesis: the householder took
care to build a tower, in order that the tenants, who took care of the vineyard, might also be able to
keep it and protect it.
But, just as at the time of the original sin, the crimes committed by the tenants took place in the
garden, in the vineyard. The tenants did not want to submit themselves to the orders of the
householder who, through the intermediary of his servants, wanted to receive the produce of his
vineyard. They acted like Adam and Eve, who refused to obey God and ate the forbidden fruit:
"God said [to Adam], «... Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?»" (Gn.
3:11) The worst crimes often take place in a garden . . . This image frequently recurs in Holy
Scripture: at the time of the original sin, which has just been mentioned; in the parable told here by
the Lord; and above all in the arrest of Jesus and his betrayal by Judas, in the garden of
Gethsemane (a Hebrew name which means "press"!).
"«Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, `They will respect my son. But when the tenants saw
the son, they said to themselves, `This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.
And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him.»"
After Adam sinned, he and his wife were thrown out of the garden of Eden: "The Lord God sent
him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken." (Gn. 3:23)
Therefore, if reparations for the sin had to be made, this would have to take place outside the garden
of Eden. Thus, in the parable told by Jesus, the son who was sent by the father, a son who is the
image of the Savior himself, was killed outside of the vineyard. Once he was condemned to death,
Jesus too was led, not out of the vineyard or garden, but rather out of the city of Jerusalem. There,
he was nailed to a cross and died. Those who had condemned him to death - the Jews of that time were so attached to their material and temporal inheritance, which is to say their goods and money,
that they rejected the Son of God in person, he who had come to bring them the inheritance of
eternal life. It was in a completely perverse manner that they said, along with the tenants of the
parable: "This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance!"
"«When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?» They said to
him, «He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who
will give him the fruits in their seasons.»"
The master of the vineyard is not Jesus, but the Father. When is the Father to return, after the
Passion of his Son? In fact, he has already returned: during Pentecost, the new creation in the
Spirit of God! At that time, God the Father, through his Spirit, sent in the name of his Son, has
gained for himself a new people: sons and daughters according to his heart, adopted children who,
today, make up the new Israel, the new People of God! Since the day of Pentecost, what Jesus had
announced in the parable is being accomplished: "He will let out the vineyard to other tenants who
will give him the fruits in their seasons." Moreover, Saint Matthew noted that, right after the telling
of this parable, "When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he
was speaking about them." (Mt. 21:45)
"Jesus said to them, «Have you never read in the scriptures: `The very stone which the builders
rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our
eyes' (Ps. 117, 22-23) ? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and
given to a nation producing the fruits of it.»"
The People of God, the new Israel! This is the Church! This is us, by the grace of God! The Lord
therefore expects us to produce fruits, those he asks of us: "Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of
God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it." These fruits are
many, but the greatest, the one the Lord particularly esteems, is charity! "A new commandment I
give to you, that you love one another." (Jn. 13:34) May Mary, the beloved daughter of the Father,
obtain for us the grace of producing the fruits of charity which will open up to us the doors to
eternal life!
Homily:
" 'Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around
it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another
country.' "
It is two days before the celebration of Passover by Jesus and his disciples. Soon Jesus will say: "I
am the vine, you are the branches." (Jn. 15:5) Men, women, all the human beings who are called to
become disciples of Christ, all those who are but one with Christ, these are the vine and the
branches: when Jesus speaks of the vine, he also intends to speak of the vine-growers, and vice
versa. So when Jesus speaks of the fruit of the vine, he also intends to speak of the fruits produced
by the men and women who are in his service, or who at least seem to be in his service...
For someone can be in the service of a employer and, in reality, not carry out what the employer has
commanded that person to do. This is true, above all, when the employer is absent... You know the
saying: when the cat's away, the mice will play! For, indeed, Jesus said: "He let it out to tenants,
and went into another country." Truly, is this not a good employer? Have you ever seen one as good
as this? When you are at work, whether in a factory or in an office, are there not supervisors and
managers who verify whether or not you are indeed doing the work assigned to you? This is not the
case here.
This householder is God the Father, our Father in Heaven! He is good, so good that he lets us work
in his vineyard, fully trusting us! God trusts us! How incredible! Think of the trust that God placed
in Saint Joseph: God entrusted to him his own Son, along with Mary his Mother! And today, God
puts his trust in the Pope, entrusting to him all of his sons and daughters throughout the whole
world! How marvelous! And, to each one of us individually, God has entrusted, first, our soul and
our entire person, but also everyone who makes up our family! Let us not disappoint our God by
betraying the trust he has placed in us!
" 'When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the
tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other
servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them.' "
God trusts us: this is what he wants, this is what he has always wanted from all eternity. God had
placed his trust in the man and woman in the terrestrial Paradise. But, the devil was there to tempt
first the woman, and then the man; and both of them, the man and the woman, betrayed the trust
that God had placed in them. They sinned against God, and God no longer trusted them...
"The season of fruit drew near." (Mt. 21:34) God had promised a Messiah ever since the first sin of
mankind, but he had not yet chosen him. It was only later that the time of the grape harvest had
finally arrived, that is, the time when God chose, not yet a Messiah, but the people from whom he
would spring: the Jewish People, the chosen People.
To know if the time had come to choose the Messiah, or rather - since God knows all - to manifest
to men that the time of the choosing of the Messiah had not yet come, God sent Prophets, servants
of the householder, who, unfortunately since the time had not yet come, were killed and thus
prevented from harvesting the fruits of the householder's vine...
To the Jewish People, God had sent Prophets... But the People of God did not believe in the
Prophets of God: the People of God did not trust God! What a tragic outcome! God trusted man,
and man did not trust God! And we, today, we who are the New People of God, do we truly trust
God? Do we believe what today's Prophets say?
" 'Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw
the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.'
And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him.' "
What is the inheritance of the Son of God? What is it if not grace? What can be compared to the
fruit of the vine, what is it that makes us spiritually drunk, if not grace, that is, the Love of God?
Have we not seen the inhabitants of Jerusalem comparing the Apostles to drunken men on the day
that the Holy Spirit filled them with divine grace at Pentecost? So this is the inheritance of God:
grace.
But if the grace of God is a good that man possesses, it is so only insofar as man gives thanks
(renders grace) to God: for grace is destined to make us adoptive sons of the Father, sons in the Son,
men and women united to Christ in the Holy Spirit. Grace, in order for it to be possessed by man,
must be returned to God: in order to be a child of God, man must give thanks (render grace) to God!
So, any attempt to steal the inheritance of God, which is grace, positively prevents the thief from
becoming a child of God: "To him who has will more be given, and from him who has not, even
what he thinks that he has will be taken away." (Lk. 8:18) This is why Jesus ended his discourse
with the following words: "The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation
producing the fruits of it."
Let us give thanks (render grace) to God for each day of our life! Above all, let us give thanks
(render grace) to him when we receive him within us in the Holy Eucharist! Through Mary, may
our life be a continual thanksgiving! Amen!