Fr. Eugene Lobo, SJ –
Twenty Seventh Sunday of the Year October 08, 2023
Isaiah 5:1-7 Philippians 4:6-9 Matthew 21:33-43
Christianity is a reality that can be experienced by each person who opens himself or herself to the dynamic presence of God in the world and particularly in the Church. In fact, it is only through the genuine experience of God’s presence that we can bear the expected fruits of Christian life, the practical and operating acknowledgement of God as Lord of all, and an equally practical and operating love of others as the fundamental purpose of one’s life.
This Divine Christian life is placed within the dynamic of our natural lives so that, through the normal and natural events of our human lives, we express the fruits of the Divine life within us. It is important to remember that we need to experience the reality of God within us through a practical assimilation of our minds and hearts, in our thought and actions. It is this presence that, through our cooperation, will produce the fruits of Christian life, much more than the attempt at external, token, gestures of conformity to God’s Will.
There is a disturbing, unsettling message in today’s Readings. In the Gospel the charge is leveled not against the failed produce, but the tenants, those temporarily in charge of the vineyard, failed to recognize the owner and his son. The chief priests and the elders, those to whom the parable is addressed, have no difficulty in recognizing the outrageous injustice of the tenants towards the vineyard’s owner. Jesus then unveils the real application of truth of the parable, comparing it with the historical reception of God’s prophets, and of the Son of God Himself, at the hands of the religious leaders.
In the first reading of today Prophet Isaiah uses the image of the vineyard carefully laid out and cared for by its owner, to depict the close relationship between God and the chosen people. God loved the chosen people and granted special protection and privileges to them. These chosen people of Isaiah’s day were well aware of all that God had done for them in the past. Under this image of the wine-grower who had done everything he could do to make his vineyard fertile and productive, the prophet describes God’s care for and interest in his chosen people. This vineyard of God produces wild fruit, instead of real grapes, not fit to produce wine. The fault cannot be attributed to the owner who has done everything possible. He has cared for it and pruned and nursed his vineyard. In his anger and disappointment he decides to abandon the vineyard altogether.
In the second reading of today Paul is encouraging the converts of the Philippian community to place their full trust in God. Fervent prayer of thanksgiving and petition will keep their heart and mind on Christ. He tells them to make their needs known to God through their prayer with supplication and thanksgiving. The purpose of their prayer has to be adoration and gratitude. Such prayer he says removes anxiety and brings peace. He tells them that they should live exemplary Christian lives following the example of the Apostle. Their reward will be peace of mind in this life and everlasting peace in the world to come. Again, Paul exhorts them to put away all anxiety for temporal and spiritual affairs. The God who called them to Christian faith is ever close to them.
In today’s Gospel we have the parable of the vineyard and the wicked tenants. Jesus tells this story to his opponents, namely the Chief Priests and the Elders of the people, to show them that even though they are God’s chosen people from the beginning, they have forfeited any claim to the new kingdom of God because of their disloyalty and disobedience to him. The purpose of the parable is as we find it in the gospel of Matthew to show that the death of Jesus at the hands of his opponents is consistent with the way God’s messengers have been treated down the centuries. They were given a vineyard to cultivate but they claimed it as their own and refused not only to give any return to the true owner but murdered his own son who had come to them on behalf of his father.
The parable clearly indicates that God’s people had disappointed their God. It was the formerly sinful Gentiles who took on the task of building the Kingdom. This should not be understood as anti-Jewish. On the contrary this was being written by Christian Jews for Christian Jews and it must have been a painful thing for them to see and accept. The message clearly is that God’s people have been poor tenants in the Lord’s vineyard. The image of the vineyard is taken from the Old Testament and the servants mentioned in the parable represent the prophets who spoke on behalf of God and tried to bring them back. Instead of listening to their word they maltreated them and some they even killed. This current parable contains the allegorical elements in it. The vineyard is Israel, the tenant farmers are Israel’s leaders, the householder is God, the servants are the prophets and the son is Jesus. The plot of the story reflects the practice in the first century Palestine of the absentee land lordism.
Two leading thoughts come to our mind after listening to the parable of today. First we see the infinite goodness, patience and the mercy of God in his dealing with humankind and secondly, the unsounded depth of wickedness and ingratitude to which man can sink. All he asked in return was their cooperation. But they had other plans: they wanted their kingdom on earth. Yet God was patient with them and again and again pardoned their infidelities. However, when the prophets were sent to them as his messengers they refused to accept them and did not listen to their warnings. Finally, the landowner, God, sent His only beloved Son Jesus to them, saying, “They will respect my Son.” Rather than believing and accepting the teachings of Jesus as the Son of God and the promised Messiah, the chief priests and the Pharisees plotted against Him also and killed Him.
In this parable of today, the vineyard is the Kingdom of God. It is something which belongs to God and this vineyard will be finally preserved and the tenants will be replaced. Matthew here presents a quote from Psalm 118 verses 22 and 23 to indicate that the parable was applied to the Jewish people and to support the new ownership over the vineyard, that God will vindicate Jesus who has been rejected. Because of that rejection the Kingdom of God will be given to the Jewish Christian Community and the believing gentiles who will care for it and make sure that it produces the fruit. They were rejecting Jesus who would become the cornerstone, the source of stability and strength, and unity among the various races who would form his new kingdom. Matthew wants his readers to know that the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus are all a part of the greater plan of God.
The Gospel concludes with the words that the Kingdom of God will be given to a people that produce the fruits of the Kingdom. The fruits of the Kingdom are the fruits of the Holy Spirit. They are as Paul tells the Galatians, “love, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” These fruits of Christian life, as we know are beyond a mere doctrine or code of conduct, for Christianity is a reality that can be experienced by each person who opens himself or herself to the dynamic presence of God in the world and, particularly, in the Church. In fact, it is only through the genuine experience of God’s presence that we can bear the expected fruits of Christian life, the practical and operating acknowledgement of God as Lord of all, and an equally practical and operating love of others as the fundamental purpose of my life.
Today, we are God’s people. We are all called to be members, active members of the Body of Christ, the Christian community, the Church. Over the centuries, several prophets in our Christian communities have been rejected, abused and even killed. We think of Joan of Arc, Thomas More, and Oliver Plunkett and, in our own times, Bishop Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King, the countless victims of violence in Central and South America, in Africa, not to mention Northern Ireland. All these martyrs have one thing in common.
One man went before God and asked for the gift of salvation. God asked him what he has done. He narrated to God and told him how he has not done any harm to any one, he has not robbed any person, has not been scandalous, avoided contacting people thinking they would be bad, not shown lust towards any woman, and has honoured God respectfully. In defense he told God and said, look God, see my hands. Look they are so clean. God sadly looked at him and said, yes they are clean but they are empty.
‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot. The man said he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’ If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.