27th Sunday in OT, Year A,
2011
We have two similar parables
in our readings today. From Isaiah we
read of the parable of the unfruitful vineyard.
The vine grower has cultivated, watered and nurtured the vineyard. But the grapes were sour, the vineyard was
unproductive. The vine grower asks, “What
more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?”
Sometimes we also find
ourselves in such disappointing, discouraging situations. We toiled and worked hard, but our labors
seem to be futile. We loved and loved,
and our love is unrequited. We tried and
tried, but we do not succeed. We also
ask, “What more should I have done? Were
all that I have done and given not enough?”
Although this is a relevant
lesson, this is not all that there is in the parable in Isaiah. This parable is about God’s offer of his live
and love, his offer of the covenant, and the response of the people to God’s
offer. It is addressed to a people who
had rejected God in spite of his goodness.
Like the owner of the vine, God has showered his people with his love,
but they have continued to reject his offer.
They have continued to disregard and disobey him. Like the vine grower, God asks, “What more
was for me to do for my people that I had not done?”
This parable is taken up by
Jesus. Jesus is the most that God has
done for his people. The familiar John
3:16 is God’s answer to the earlier question.
“For God so loved the world that in the fullness of time he sent his
only begotten Son so that all who will believe in him will not die, but rather,
have eternal life.” Jesus relates in the
Gospel parable that there was a landowner who set up his vineyard so well, and
entrusted this to tenants. The tenants,
however, although they were only tenants wanted the vineyard for
themselves. They wanted to be owners,
not tenants. At the time of vintage, the
landowner sent his servants to gather his share. But the tenants mistreated and even killed
his servants. He sent another delegation
of servants, but the servants were treated no better by the tenants. He so trusted the tenants so he sent his
son. But even the son was disregarded by
the tenants. They kill the son.
This parable is addressed to
the leaders of the Jewish community at the time of Jesus. Jesus exposed the leaders’ rejection of
Jesus. He also exposed their violent
schemes. Here Jesus prefigures his own
death. He is the Son sent by the owner,
but whom, as the tenants acted, the leaders will kill.
The parable of Isaiah
illustrating the vineyard’s unproductiveness ends with the ruin of the
vineyard. The parable of Jesus
illustrating the tenant’s usurping ownership of the vineyard, and the violence
the tenants did, ends with the word that the vineyard shall be taken away from
the tenants.
While the parables speak of
the Israelites and the leaders of the people, the parables also speak to us. Like the vineyard, we have also been so
generously and gratuitously cultivated, watered and nurtured by God. We have been so richly blessed by God. The greatest blessing we have received is
Jesus. We have to ask ourselves, “What
grapes do we bear?” Are we
fruitful? Are we producing the fruits of
the Kingdom of God? From the second
reading, we are asked, are we bearing
fruit in “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious”?
If we do not bear fruit in
goodness, and reject God’s offer, we will also end in ruin. Not that God wants that. Not even because God would punish us. It is rather that without God, we simply are
nothing. If we reject God’s offer of his
goodness, we have nothing left, but our sorry selves. God created and nurtured us, and apart from
God, we are nothing, and cannot do anything of true worth.
Like the tenants, we are also
stewards of God’s many gifts. God asks
us to give him his share. Do we give God
his fair share of our life, time, talent, treasure? Do we invest in our spiritual
development? Do we responsibly take part
in the growth of our parish, of our Church?
If we do not give God his
share of our life, time, talent and treasure, if we neglect to invest time and
effort in prayer and the liturgy, our faith weakens, and even the little faith
that we have can be disturbed and snatch away by the evil one. If we do not take responsibility in nurturing
our parish life, our Church, our parish will not prosper, and the Church is
impoverished. The United States,
thankfully is still home to fervent and true Catholics. But if we do not take care of our Catholic
Faith in America, if we compromise and not give due recognition and place of
Faith, the place of God in our communal life, and in our laws, God forbid, that
one day we would find our society and nation devoid of its soul.
God generously offers us his
life and love. We are God’s
vineyard. We are God’s tenants. We are called to bear fruit in holiness. We are called to be responsible and committed
stewards of God’s gifts. God will not
force his offer on us. He gave us free
will to make a decision for God.
The example of Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint whose feast
is celebrated every 28th of September is worth noting, not because I am Filipino, but because his
example I think illustrates our needed commitment and conviction to the gift of
faith that we have received.
Lorenzo Ruiz is a
Filipino-Chinese mestizo, a lay man who was working as secretary and sacristan
at his parish in Binondo, Manila. When
the Dominicans sent a group of missionaries to Japan, Lorenzo joined them. At first, it was only to flee from a false accusation
of murder made against him; but also with missionary zeal since he very well
knew that what awaits him there is not a bed of roses. As they evangelized in Japan, they were
arrested. At the court, Lorenzo was
given a chance to renounce his Catholic Christian Faith. If he denounces his faith, he will save his
life. The response of Lorenzo is
recorded in the documents of the court.
He said, “I am a Christian and
this I profess until the hour of my death; and for God I shall give my life….
As a Christian and for God I shall give my life…. And if I had a thousand lives, I will give
them all to God.”
This Sunday, let us pray that we may choose God. May we choose to follow Christ and be
always faithful to him. Amen.
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