27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran
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.
Naturally, Jesus taught His disciples and the people about God’s mercy, compassion, love, and forgiveness. However, in today’s readings, we see something different: rejection and destruction. God loves his people. There is no doubt about it. At the same time, God expects fruits from his people.
The kingdom of God is often referred to with images from everyday life. Today’s readings use the image of the vineyard and wine to understand God’s relationship with his people. The vineyard is a familiar symbol of Israel, God’s chosen people. The Lord had done so many good things for Israel: He worked on the land, planted a vineyard, put walls around it, built a watchtower, and did other good things. He did all this in expectation of a fruitful harvest. The result was the opposite; the land produced bad fruits and wild grapes. The chosen people of Israel were brought out of slavery by the Lord to a land flowing with milk and honey. God did everything for His people and rightly expected them to produce fruits of righteousness and to be witnesses to unbelievers. But they gave him fruits of sin, iniquity, corruption, immorality, wickedness, and rebellion. Therefore, God took away his protection and let his vineyard be trampled by other nations. This prophecy was fulfilled when the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquered Israel.
Jesus uses the same image in today’s Gospel. The landowner represents God. The tenants represent the religious leaders who were given the responsibility to take care of God’s people and help them bear good fruit. See the great opportunities the vineyard owner offered to the tenants, and how they wasted the opportunities and expressed ingratitude. God does not simply punish his people immediately but patiently and mercifully waits. The servants suffered at the hands of religious leaders, and his own people killed Jesus. One might think that the death of Jesus would lead to man’s destruction. Instead, it has led to our redemption. The rejected stone becomes the cornerstone.
God has abundantly blessed this world with many gifts, especially natural and human resources. It would be wonderful if we all used God-given natural resources and our human talents as prudent and faithful stewards. While we are working, we should not forget the greed and selfishness of the tenants, which turned against the owner of the vineyard. We need to remember always that God is the absolute owner of this world and everything in it. We are only His tenants and, at the end of our lives, we are expected to give an account of our stewardship to Him.
As we are in the month of the Rosary, may today’s Gospel lesson help us make a firm resolution to reject pride and greed. As we pray the Rosary, may we imbibe the values of humility and love, and be constantly assured of the Blessed Mother’s protection and assistance as we journey toward our eternal home.
Parishable Items 