HOMILY FOR THE 27TH SUNDAY YEAR A TEXTS: Isa 5:1-7; Phil 4:6-9; Matt 21:33-43 The theme that runs through the readings of today is, the necessity of bearing fruit in the Christian life and the consequent punishment for spiritual sterility, ingratitude and wickedness. The first reading, which is called Isaiahs Song of the Vineyard, the prophet describes Gods care for, and interest in, His Chosen People. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done? Yahweh asked. Following the classic Biblical imagery, Isaiah describes Israel as a non-productive vineyard. Though God has done everything necessary to produce a good crop, the vineyard yields only wild grapes. From the call of Abraham (about 1800 B.C.), and especially after the Exodus (1300 B.C.), the history of God’s chosen people was one continuous reminder of Gods benevolence towards them. But Israel — Gods vineyard – failed Him miserably, producing wild and bitter grapes. Israel disobeyed Him by perpetuating injustice and shedding the blood of the innocent. We are reminded that the same God of love and benevolence has shown even more love and benevolence to His new ‘chosen people’-- the Church. He sent His prophets to reveal Himself and His message to the Jews, but He has sent His own Divine Son to live and die among us. By Baptism, which Jesus instituted, we are made the children of God and heirs of Heaven. But by our cold indifference to God and our excessive attachment to worldly goods, many of us remain more ungrateful than the Israelites. Thus, we, too, are the unproductive vineyard the Heavenly Father says He will destroy, laying it waste. Let us pay attention to this strong warning and become His grateful and generous children. The parable in the Gospel text is a theological summary of the entire history of the ingratitude, infidelity and hard-heartedness of the Chosen People ; hence, the murderous tenants are the uncooperative vines of Isaiah. Jesus turns the crowds stern verdict calling for rejection and destruction against themselves through a telling quotation of Psalm 118, “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This parable as an allegory, has different meanings. 1) Like the Jews, the second- and third-generation Christians also understood God as the landlord. The servants sent by the landowner represented the prophets of the Old Testament. They were to see to it that God’s Chosen People produced fruits of justice, love and righteousness. But the people refused to listen to the prophets and produced the bitter grapes of injustice, immorality and idolatry. They persecuted and killed the prophets. As a final attempt, the landowner sent his son, (Jesus), to collect the rent (fruits of righteousness), from the wicked tenants (the Jews). But they crucified him and continued to lead a life of disloyalty and disobedience. Hence, God’s vineyard was taken away from His chosen people and was given to a people (Gentile Christians), who were expected to produce fruit of righteousness. The Lord’s vineyard at present is the Church, and we Christians are the tenants from whom God expects fruits of righteousness. The parable warns us that if we refuse to reform our lives, to become productive, we, too, could be replaced as the old Israel was replaced by the new Israel. We cease being either Gods vineyard or the tenants of Gods vineyard when we stop relating to others as loving servants. In the parable, the rent the tenants refuse to pay stands for the relationship with God and with all the people of Israel which the religious leaders refuse to cultivate. This means that before anything else, God checks on how well we are fulfilling our responsibilities to each other as His children. The parable teaches that instead of glorying in our privileges and Christian heritage, we are called to deeds of love, including bearing personal and corporate witness that invites others into Gods kingdom. Today’s message is meant to help us understand that our stay here on earth is temporary. If you like, we are tenants who have but a brief moment to justify our tenancy. It is very instructive to note that in the parable, the landlord did not charge them before letting them into the vineyard. Ordinarily a tenant is required to pay before occupying a place. This is typical of God, His ways are different from our ways and his thoughts are also different from our thoughts (Isa 55:8-9). For God, it is pay after service not pay before service. More so, you are not required to pay with your own resources but the fruit of what He has already given to you. The tenants were given the freedom to use the vineyard in whichever way that appealed to them. However, they were required to simply return some of the fruits to the landlord; from the episode in the parable, that was the only thing that was required of them. It is the same way that God requires us to bear good fruits, to live good lives, to produce good not evil in our lives. Some of us like the tenants are still killing the servants and the only son. We do so when we hear the word of God and refuse to allow it to become relevant and fruitful in our lives. We kill the servants and the only son when we wilfully stifle the truth, discourage the word of God and when we keep doing our will instead of the will of God. As tenants in God’s vineyard what are our expectations? We are required to be good tenants who are ready and willing to fulfil the obligations of our tenancy. To achieve this St. Paul among other things in the Second Reading (Phil.4:6-9) advised us to pay attention to: Whatever is true Whatever is honourable Whatever is just Whatever is pure Whatever is lovely Whatever is gracious Anything that is excellent Anything that is worthy of praise! Within the general vineyard which is the world, God has given each of us different vineyards in form of our families, places of work, where we attend school, the people under us. In these vineyards we are also expected to bear fruits. These places are where we function and whatever we do in these places determine our fate with God in the world. In a more personal way, our souls are our personal vineyards which we move about with. It remains very precious to God and we must work to make it fruitful. Jesus has given the Church everything necessary to make Christians fruit-bearing. i) The Bible to know the will of God. ii) The priesthood to lead the people in God’s ways. iii) The Sacrament of Reconciliation for the remission of sins. iv) The Holy Eucharist as our spiritual food. v) The Sacrament of Confirmation for a dynamic life of Faith. vi) The Sacrament of Matrimony for the sharing of love in families, the fundamental unit of the Church. vii) Role models in thousands of saints We are expected make use of these gifts and produce fruits for God. Are we fruit-producers in the vineyard of the family? By the mutual sharing of blessings, by sacrificing time and talents for the members of the family, by humbly and lovingly serving others in the family, by recognizing and encouraging each other and by honoring and gracefully obeying our parents, we become producers of good fruit or good vines in our families. How do we treat the prophets of our time (priests, catechists and other pastors) sent to work with and for us? What kind of grapes do we as a parish community produce? Are they sweet or sour? What is our attitude toward everything God has given to us? Are we grateful for everything God has given to us, or are we like the ungrateful tenants who acted as if they owned everything God had given them? Is our parish a real sign of Jesus presence and love? What kind of impact do we have? Do we measure the quality of our parish by what happens during Mass, or on what happens when we leave the Church? Obviously, both are important but there cannot be one without the other. As we march into a new week, let us pay particular attention to the vineyards around us and let us also make sure that we produce fruits so that when the harvest time comes we shall not be like the empty tenants who had nothing to offer but aggression. May the presence of God go with you now and Forever!
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 04:17:51 +0000
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