2020년 10월 4일 연중 제27주일(군인 주일)
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
이사야서. 5,1-7
1 내 친구를 위하여 나는 노래하리라,
내 애인이 자기 포도밭을 두고 부른 노래를.
내 친구에게는 기름진 산등성이에 포도밭이 하나 있었네.
2 땅을 일구고 돌을 골라내어 좋은 포도나무를 심었네.
그 가운데에 탑을 세우고 포도 확도 만들었네.
그러고는 좋은 포도가 맺기를 바랐는데 들포도를 맺었다네.
3 자 이제, 예루살렘 주민들아, 유다 사람들아
나와 내 포도밭 사이에 시비를 가려 다오!
4 내 포도밭을 위하여 내가 무엇을 더 해야 했더란 말이냐?
내가 해 주지 않은 것이 무엇이란 말이냐?
나는 좋은 포도가 맺기를 바랐는데 어찌하여 들포도를 맺었느냐?
5 이제 내가 내 포도밭에 무슨 일을 하려는지 너희에게 알려 주리라.
울타리를 걷어치워 뜯어 먹히게 하고 담을 허물어 짓밟히게 하리라.
6 그것을 황폐하게 내버려 두어
가지치기도 못 하고 김매기도 못 하게 하여
가시덤불과 엉겅퀴가 올라오게 하리라.
또 구름에게 명령하여 그 위에 비를 내리지 못하게 하리라.
7 만군의 주님의 포도밭은 이스라엘 집안이요
유다 사람들은 그분께서 좋아하시는 나무라네.
그분께서는 공정을 바라셨는데 피 흘림이 웬 말이냐?
정의를 바라셨는데 울부짖음이 웬 말이냐?
제2독서
필리피서 . 4,6-9
형제 여러분, 6 아무것도 걱정하지 마십시오.
어떠한 경우에든 감사하는 마음으로 기도하고 간구하며
여러분의 소원을 하느님께 아뢰십시오.
7 그러면 사람의 모든 이해를 뛰어넘는 하느님의 평화가
여러분의 마음과 생각을 그리스도 예수님 안에서 지켜 줄 것입니다.
8 끝으로, 형제 여러분, 참된 것과 고귀한 것과 의로운 것과
정결한 것과 사랑스러운 것과 영예로운 것은 무엇이든지,
또 덕이 되는 것과 칭송받는 것은 무엇이든지 다 마음에 간직하십시오.
9 그리고 나에게서 배우고 받고 듣고 본 것을 그대로 실천하십시오.
그러면 평화의 하느님께서 여러분과 함께 계실 것입니다.
복음
마태오. 21,33-43
그때에 예수님께서 수석 사제들과 백성의 원로들에게 말씀하셨다.
33 “다른 비유를 들어 보아라. 어떤 밭 임자가
‘포도밭을 일구어 울타리를 둘러치고 포도 확을 파고 탑을 세웠다.’
그리고 소작인들에게 내주고 멀리 떠났다.
34 포도 철이 가까워지자
그는 자기 몫의 소출을 받아 오라고 소작인들에게 종들을 보냈다.
35 그런데 소작인들은 그들을 붙잡아 하나는 매질하고
하나는 죽이고 하나는 돌을 던져 죽이기까지 하였다.
36 주인이 다시 처음보다 더 많은 종을 보냈지만,
소작인들은 그들에게도 같은 짓을 하였다.
37 주인은 마침내 ‘내 아들이야 존중해 주겠지.’ 하며 그들에게 아들을 보냈다.
38 그러나 소작인들은 아들을 보자,
‘저자가 상속자다. 자, 저자를 죽여 버리고
우리가 그의 상속 재산을 차지하자.’ 하고 저희끼리 말하면서,
39 그를 붙잡아 포도밭 밖으로 던져 죽여 버렸다.
40 그러니 포도밭 주인이 와서 그 소작인들을 어떻게 하겠느냐?”
41 “그렇게 악한 자들은 가차 없이 없애 버리고,
제때에 소출을 바치는 다른 소작인들에게 포도밭을 내줄 것입니다.” 하고
그들이 대답하자, 42 예수님께서 그들에게 말씀하셨다.
“너희는 성경에서 이 말씀을 읽어 본 적이 없느냐?
‘집 짓는 이들이 내버린 돌, 그 돌이 모퉁이의 머릿돌이 되었네.
이는 주님께서 이루신 일, 우리 눈에 놀랍기만 하네.’
43 그러므로 내가 너희에게 말한다.
하느님께서는 너희에게서 하느님의 나라를 빼앗아,
그 소출을 내는 민족에게 주실 것이다.”
October 4, 2020
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
Is 5:1-7
my friend's song concerning his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside;
he spaded it, cleared it of stones,
and planted the choicest vines;
within it he built a watchtower,
and hewed out a wine press.
Then he looked for the crop of grapes,
but what it yielded was wild grapes.
Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I had not done?
Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes,
did it bring forth wild grapes?
Now, I will let you know
what I mean to do with my vineyard:
take away its hedge, give it to grazing,
break through its wall, let it be trampled!
Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
but overgrown with thorns and briers;
I will command the clouds
not to send rain upon it.
The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his cherished plant;
he looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed!
for justice, but hark, the outcry!
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
A vine from Egypt you transplanted;
you drove away the nations and planted it.
It put forth its foliage to the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Why have you broken down its walls,
so that every passer-by plucks its fruit,
The boar from the forest lays it waste,
and the beasts of the field feed upon it?
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
O LORD, God of hosts, restore us;
if your face shine upon us, then we shall be saved.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Phil 4:6-9
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.
Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Keep on doing what you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be with you.
Gospel
Mt 21:33-43
"Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking,
'They will respect my son.'
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
'This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.'
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
They answered him,
"He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times."
Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore, I say to you,
the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit."
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
The imagery of the people of God as a vineyard is common in both the Old and New Testaments. Generally the vineyard stands for the nation of Israel as a whole but that does not exclude an emphasis on the role of the individual.
The vineyard parables all have certain things in common. God is the one who plants the vineyard. He chooses the best and most fertile land, works the land to prepare it, and then looks for a harvest, only to be disappointed for one reason or another.
In the first reading, he is disappointed because, instead of the vineyard producing good grapes, it produced wild, or, as some translations say, rotten grapes. So, what do you do? There is nothing left to do but tear it all down. Isaiah’s message to the nation is that this is what God plans to do with Israel because the nation has produced rotten grapes. In the same way that the owner of the vineyard looked for good grapes and found rotten grapes instead, God looked for justice within Israel and instead found bloodshed. Nations that are systemically unjust can last for a time but eventually God gets fed up and destruction comes.
The psalmist does not know why it is happening but he sees that God is allowing his vineyard to be torn down. With all the work God had done, bringing a vine from Egypt, working hard to clear the land to plant it, and then letting it spread itself to the Mediterranean Sea and the Euphrates River, why is God now allowing it to be plundered and trampled on by everybody who passes by? The psalmist pleads with God to look favorably on his vineyard and give it new life. The people have withdrawn from you and haven’t called upon your name but, if you will restore your vineyard, the nation can turn around and be saved.
In the Gospel parable, the history of Israel as God’s vineyard is told. The owner of an estate leases it out to tenant farmers and then goes on a long journey. This was particularly common in Galilee where landowners often actually lived outside of the territory. Generally the rent was for a certain amount of produce from the vineyard with the tenants able to keep what remained. The owner of the vineyard then sent delegates to take the part of the harvest that was his. However, the tenants choose not to pay and abuse the servants. The servants in the parable are God’s prophets whom he regularly sent to Israel, only to see them abused and killed. Finally, the owner sends his son but he, too, is killed. Those who hate Jesus know that he is talking about them and himself. You can reject God’s Son but he will take the vineyard and give it to someone else who will produce good fruit.
Finally, what is that good fruit that God wants from his vineyard? Saint Paul tells us.
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Keep on doing what you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be with you.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
IN LOVE WITH THE MOST REJECTED PERSON
“The Stone Which the builders rejected has become the Keystone of the structure. It was the Lord Who did this, and we find it marvelous to behold.” —Matthew 21:42; Psalm 118:22
Think of the person whom you love the most. Possibly this is your spouse, mother, father, child, brother, sister, or friend. You love this person so much that you would even give up your life for him or her. Now imagine seeing this person, whom you love so much, being cruelly rejected. This would break your heart, and you would try to console the one you love by professing your love for him or her.
This situation which I have just described is the circumstance in which Christians live. We disciples of Jesus love Jesus with all our hearts (see Mt 22:37). He is the Joy and Love of our lives. We love Him more than we love anyone else. We love Him more than life. Jesus, our Love and Life, is the most rejected Person Who has ever lived. By our sins, He is cruelly rejected millions of times each day. In a certain way, Jesus continues to be crucified and held up to contempt (Heb 6:6). He continues to be “the Stone Which the builders rejected” (Mt 21:42).
Responding in love to the continually rejected Jesus, let us reject Satan, his works, and his promises (rather than reject Jesus). Let us love Jesus so much that we are rejected with Him.
Prayer: Father, send the Holy Spirit to lead me to renew my baptismal promises more deeply than ever before.
Promise: “Dismiss all anxiety from your minds. Present your needs to God in every form of prayer and in petitions full of gratitude.” —Phil 4:6
Praise: “With power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great respect was paid to them all” (Acts 4:33). Praise You, Jesus!
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
What is the message of the parable of the vineyard? Jesus' story about an absentee landlord and his not-so-good tenants would have made sense to his audience. The hills of Galilee were lined with numerous vineyards, and it was quite common for the owners to let out their estates to tenants. Many did it for the sole purpose of collecting rent.
The Lord's vinyeard in the house of his people
Why did Jesus' story about wicked tenants cause offense to the scribes and Pharisees? It contained both a prophetic message and a warning. Isaiah had spoken of the house of Israel as "the vineyard of the Lord" (Isaiah 5:7). Jesus' listeners would have likely understood this parable as referring to God's dealing with a stubborn and rebellious people.
This parable speaks to us today as well. It richly conveys some important truths about God and the way he deals with his people. First, it tells us of God's generosity and trust. The vineyard is well equipped with everything the tenants need. The owner went away and left the vineyard in the hands of the tenants. God, likewise trusts us enough to give us freedom to run life as we choose. This parable also tells us of God's patience and justice. Not once, but many times he forgives the tenants their debts. But while the tenants take advantage of the owner's patience, his judgment and justice prevail in the end.
Gift of the kingdom
Jesus foretold both his death on the cross and his ultimate triumph. He knew he would be rejected and put to death, but he also knew that would not be the end. After rejection would come glory - the glory of his resurrection from the grave and his ascension to the right hand of the Father in heaven.
The Lord blesses his people today with the gift of his kingdom - a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. And he promises that we will bear much fruit if we abide in him (see John 15:1-11). He entrusts his gifts and grace (unmerited favor and blessing) to each of us and he gives us work to do in his vineyard - the body of Christ in our midst today. He promises that our labor for him will not be in vain if we persevere with faith to the end (see 1 Corinthians 15:58).
We can expect trials and even persecution. But in the end we will see triumph. Do you follow and serve the Lord Jesus with joyful hope and confidence in the victory he has won for you and the gift of abundant new life in the Holy Spirit?
Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which you have given us - for all the pains and insults which you have borne for us. O most merciful redeemer, friend, and brother, may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, for your own sake. (prayer of St. Richard of Chichester, 13th century)
Psalm 80:8-21
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and plant it.
9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine,
15 the stock which your right hand planted.
16 They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance!
17 But let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
18 Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name!
19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts! let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Life through death, by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Unless the Word of God had first assumed our mortal flesh He could not have died for us. Only in that way was the immortal God able to die and to give life to mortal humans. Therefore, by this double sharing He brought about a wonderful exchange. We made death possible for Him, and He made life possible for us." (excerpt from Sermon 218C, 1)
http://www.homilies.net/
Homily from Father James Gilhooley
27 Ordinary Time
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 dissecting 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)
Homily from Father Joseph Pellegrino
Frjoeshomilies.net
27 Ordinary Time
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time: Tenant Farmers All!
The last three weeks our gospels have been about vineyards. Two weeks ago we had the Parable of the Laborers in the Marketplace. The Good Employer called people to work in his vineyard throughout the day. Last week we had the parable of the two sons who were called to work in their father’s vineyard, one said, “No,” but went. The other said, “Sure,” but did not go. This week we have another vineyard story, the story of the evil tenant farmers who tried to steal the vineyard from their Master, even putting his messengers to death and finally putting his son to death.
So why all these vineyards? The vineyard was a fixture in Jesus’ time. Everybody drank wine. Wine cannot be produced unless there are grapes. Therefore, there were many vineyards in the ancient world that had to be worked. Actually, there are many wine producing areas of the modern world and therefore many vineyards throughout the world. You might be most familiar with the vineyards of California, the Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, or maybe you are aware of the wonderful vineyards of Italy in Tuscany, Umbria and throughout Italy, or the vineyards of France in Bordeaux and Burgundy and all over France, or those throughout Spain and Germany and Greece. The production of wine is still a large enterprise throughout the world.
I want to tell you about a small vineyard where I grew up. That was my Grandpa’s vineyard in Paterson, New Jersey. This was not a large grape farm like the ones I just mentioned, just a simple wood structure in his back yard. There were wooden slats along its sides and over the top. In the spring, the grape vines would wrap around the slats. By the summer clusters of grapes started appearing. The whole family, grandparents, children and grandchildren would help harvesting the grapes. I remember the smell of those grapes. They say that your memory retains smells from the past. I think that is true. I can still smell those grapes. The aroma was amazing. My lungs filled up with their sweetness. After the grapes were harvested, Grandpa would use about half of them to make his own wine, Grandma and her daughters, my Mom for sure, would take the other half of the grapes and make grape jelly. You have not tasted grape jelly unless you have tasted homemade grape jelly. As we would say in the New York area, “Forgetaboutit.” I remember coming home from school and smelling the grape juice being pressed out of the grapes, and then begging my Mom to let me have some of the jelly as soon as it was ready.
The vineyard was a treasure in my Grandpa’s back yard. It was a treasure because it produced fruit for the whole family. It was not constructed for its looks. Nor was it constructed for the shade it would produce when the leaves came out, although I do remember having picnics under its shade. However, that was not why my Grandpa constructed his vineyard. It was constructed to provide fruit for its owner.
The vineyard in today’s Gospel was much, much larger than my Grandpa’s, but its reason for existing was the same. It was constructed to produce fruit for its owner. Only, in today’s Gospel, the laborers in this vineyard decide to steal the vineyard from the Master and keep the fruit for themselves.
Who are these wicked laborers? On one level, they are the leaders of the Jewish people of Jesus’ day. They were entrusted with the Vineyard of the Lord. They were called upon to provide fruit for the Lord. They were given the mission to nourish the people in the Word of God and prepare them for the Word Become Flesh. However, they used the people for their own selfish gain. They would tax the people exorbitantly for their own financial support. The people were also their means of power before the Romans. They would use the sheer number of the people as a threat to the Pax Romana. They did not prepare the people for the Messiah. In fact, they did not even want a Messiah. What if the Messiah would eliminate the need for the Temple? What would the Temple priests and Levites do? What if the Messiah were to tell the people that God was not looking for them to revolt against Rome, but was looking for them to build a spiritual kingdom? What would the Temple priests and Levites do? No, they didn’t want a Messiah. He would disrupt their system of using God’s people to enrich themselves.
“So,” the Lord says, “the vineyard will be taken from those evil farmers and given to others who would nurture it and bear the fruit of the Kingdom.”
That is one level of truth that this parable conveys. I suppose it has its merit in understanding salvation history. But does this parable really have a message for us who live 2020 years after the birth of the Word Made Flesh?
It certainly does! We, the baptized, have been entrusted with the vineyard of the Lord. We are given the deep responsibility of providing fruit for our Master. We must produce fruit for Him, not for ourselves.
Sadly, I have seen people use the vineyard for themselves and not for God. The absolute worst example of this, the most horrific period of our modern Church’s life, was the revelation that some priests were using their position in the Church to groom and attack children and teens. Thankfully, these priests have been removed from ministry and procedures were put into place to prevent further occurrences, but the thought that clergy would use their position to take advantage of minors still sickens all of us.
On a morally lesser scale, but still wrong, some people use their attendance in the Church for nothing other than what they can receive from the Church or from others. I have seen this. Perhaps you have too. I have seen people who come to Church to see and be seen, but who are not there to grow in their faith life or to bring their faith to others. I remember celebrating a Funeral Mass for a government worker. A man who was Catholic but never attended Church and who had a very questionable moral life, came to the Mass and marched right up to the front of the Church. He then proceeded to make a great show of his supposed religion. By the way, he just happened to be running for office that year. I have seen, and perhaps you have seen, family members who come down to Florida to visit with Grandparents or great Grandparents and who come to Mass for the singular reason of being remembered in Grandma or Grandpa’s will. Yes, there are many visitors who have been away from the faith and who come with their Grandparents to bring them to Church and to take another look at the faith themselves. But these are not the ones of whom I am speaking. I am speaking about those who use the Church for their own selfish reasons. I have seen, and perhaps you have seen, young adults and high school people who come to Church for the sole reason of getting a girl or guy to go out with them and are completely closed to anything happening at Mass. I have seen high school people and young adults use their own attendance at Church as a motivation in their perverted minds to lead the serious Catholic they want to date to repay them for their attendance.
Using the Church for one’s personal gain is not the reason why we come together to celebrate Mass. The Mass is the Sending Ceremony. The word Mass is derived from the last words of the Mass in Latin, “Ita Missa Est” “Go, you are sent.” The Mass is the liturgy, the prayer of the people and priests united to Christ our Head. At the Mass we receive God’s Grace in Word and Sacrament so we can bring the Lord’s presence to the people of the world who long for God. The Mass is about being strengthened to produce fruit for the Lord.
We come to Mass and use the grace we receive here to lead our children, your classmates, your spouses, and yes even your parents to Jesus Christ. We do this, first of all, by growing closer and closer to the Lord so that our words and actions naturally reflect His Presence. We do this by standing up for all that is right and moral. We do this by being kind to others with the kindness of the One who was the kindest man to ever live. Think about how kind Jesus was, Think about the sick he cured, the dead he raised. Think about the woman brought to him and accused of adultery and think about little Zacchaeus, the short tax collector and robber of the people, who climbed up a tree to see Jesus and heard him call him down. Think about how Jesus said to those who were sinners, and says to us, “You are better than that. Now receive God’s mercy and change your lives.”
We have been entrusted with the vineyard of the Lord to produce fruit for our God. Grapes, sweet smelling grapes, bundles of grapes, bundles of love, must be nurtured by our kindness to be transformed by the Lord not just into wine, but into the very Blood of Christ. For we, the tenant farmers, have been entrusted to do no less than to fill the world with the Presence of Christ.
May we work hard to care for the Lord’s vineyard.
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27 Ordinary Time
Homily from Father Alex McAllister SDS
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27 Ordinary Time
We have another vineyard in our Gospel reading this week, by my count that’s three Sundays in a row! I suppose vineyards were not only more numerous in Palestine but there they were considered to be a real sign of prosperity. And it is therefore quite natural that Jesus would use them to illustrate his teaching.
Probably Matthew lumped these three parables together because they had a vineyard in common but actually their messages are quite different. The story today is about the ungrateful tenants who first chased away the landowner’s servants and then killed his son. Afterwards Jesus gives a quote from the Psalms which reinforces the obvious reference that the servants are the prophets and the son is himself—it is he who is the stone which the builders rejected.
The various servants are the prophets sent by God to the House of Israel who were systematically ignored, misunderstood and harshly treated. More and more prophets are sent by God to explain his intentions to Israel but to no avail and finally he sends his own Son who is not only beaten but also quite swiftly murdered. This parable is a harsh prophecy aimed at the Chief Priests and Elders exposing the fact that they have not accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus informs them that the consequence of this is that the vineyard will be given to others who will bear fruit; i.e., to the Gentiles.
The First Reading from Isaiah and the Psalm chosen for today demonstrate that the people at the time of Jesus would have been quite familiar with the comparison of Israel with a vineyard and so the message would not have been lost on them.
You will notice that the parable is not addressed to the common folk but to the leaders of the people. It is they who will be the losers and their leadership will be handed over to others. These others are surely the Apostles who were to become the leaders of the early Church.
We don’t get to see the reaction of those to whom the parable is addressed; Matthew simply moves on to the next in his great sequence of the parables and teaching of Jesus. It is almost as if the pattern that Jesus has identified is now so deeply entrenched that it must go on to its inevitable and bitter conclusion. So, we can see this parable as a prediction of the passion and all that then unfolds from it.
Any parable or teaching of Jesus is not merely meant for those to whom it was addressed. It is also aimed at us who read it today. We are the modern-day tenants of the vineyard; the Old Testament Prophets and, of course, Jesus Christ himself were also sent to us. Their message has not become diluted over time—it is just as urgent and necessary today as it ever was.
The words and deeds of the prophets and most of all Jesus Christ are God’s way of communicating with us; by becoming acquainted with their message we discover what God wants for us, we learn how he wants us to behave.
In the parable the tenants are required to deliver up to their master a share of the fruits of the vineyard. The master, after all, has in the first place done all that was proper for him to do. He had planted the vineyard, fenced it round, dug a wine press and built a tower. All was in good order for the tenants, just as all was in good order with the world when humanity first inherited it. Then the messengers are sent and they gradually reveal more and more about their master and set forth the way he wants us to conduct ourselves.
But we, the tenants, are selfish and do not want to deliver up our share of the produce. We want to keep everything for ourselves. We even go so far as to want to inherit the vineyard ourselves. This is why modern man denies the very existence of God refusing to acknowledge his presence and action in the world.
This is the road to disaster. The denial of God and his messengers is the most foolish thing that anyone could do and yet whole generations are being deliberately brought up entirely in ignorance of God. It is the leaders of our society who are largely responsible for this; those who set the tone for modern life, such as politicians, those in the media, teachers and the people who are looked up to and seen as role models.
But the individual cannot escape blame because God sends his messengers directly to each person. Even those who were not educated in the things of God are sent people who are kind and loving, people whose lives point to the things of heaven, people who can teach them about his love.
We are professed Christians; we consider ourselves to be Christ’s disciples. Ought we not also consider ourselves to be his messengers to the people around us; to those who are ignorant of the wonders and mercies of God? That doesn’t mean that we go around shoving the Gospel message down people’s throats. No, we need to be very gentle servants of the Gospel; subtle messengers who speak the same language as those around us.
But we should be well aware of our role, our responsibility and take concrete steps to discharge our duty as his messengers. Only by realising that this is our special God-given task will we be able to carry it out effectively.
Like those Old Testament Prophets, we might find ourselves marginalized and even persecuted. But this ought not to prevent us from fulfilling our prophetic mission. Indeed, it should spur us on because we then begin to realise that what happened to Christ is now happening to us and this should confirm us in our mission.
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