OT XXVII [A] SUNDAY Is 5:1-7; Phil 4:6-9; Mt 21:33-43

Once at a Church meeting a wealthy member of the church rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian Faith. “I’m a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute my wealth to the blessings of God in my life.” He went on to recall the turning point in his relationship with God. As a young man, he had just earned his first dollar, and he went to a Church meeting that night. The speaker at that meeting was a missionary who told about his work in the mission field. Before the offering plate was passed around, the preacher told everyone that everything that was collected that night would be given to this missionary to help fund his work on behalf of the Church. The wealthy man wanted to give to support mission work, but he knew he couldn’t make change from the offering plate. He knew he either had to give all he had or nothing at all. At that moment, he decided to give all that he had to God. Looking back, he said he knew that God had blessed that decision and had made him wealthy. When he finished, there was silence in the room. As he returned to the pew and sat down, an elderly lady seated behind him leaned forward and said, “I dare you, to do it again!” — When we start out, it’s easy to remember that the gifts and opportunities that come our way are from God. But something happens along the way. We forget the Owner. We come to think of the vineyard and everything it produces as something we own.

 

In today’s Gospel Our Lord invites us to imagine a group of men given the opportunity of a lifetime, both professionally and personally: not only a good place to live but a great way to make a living. The tenants start beating up the people coming to collect the owner’s fair share and leaving him empty handed. There’s no remorse: gradually they start killing them too.

The owner shows a kindness that the tenants, to any outside observer, do not deserve. He keeps giving them opportunities until one day he gives them the greatest and most definitive opportunity: he sends the heir himself. In their twisted logic, they convince themselves that by eliminating the heir any trace of ownership will die with the owner, and he’ll also stop bothering them.

The parable of the wicked tenants is a way of teaching the Pharisees that they had fallen into a warped sense of entitlement over something that didn’t belong to them: the People of God.

The parable gives us a great analogy for life on earth. The world is God’s — he’s the “landowner” — and we are here tending it for him while he is “away.” The Fathers of the Church point out that he’s not truly “away” — he just acts as if he were, for our sake. He wants to trust us and he wants us to trust him. But he doesn’t leave his people alone with their enormous task. He sends help — his grace, which is like the rain, and special servants, the prophets.

We, the chosen people of God go from “The vineyard of the Lord to the house of Israel,” to “I am the vine and you are the branches.” The kingdom of heaven moves from Israel to the Body of Christ, the Church.

The parable is not just a history lesson, however. It is a warning about our own future.

“A vineyard has been let out to each of us to tend, when the mystery of baptism was given us, to be cultivated by action,” writes St. Rabanus Maurus, a 9th century Archbishop cited by St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Rabanus says the Lord also sends servants to help us tend our vineyards, too, namely “Law, Psalm, and Prophecy” — the Church’s morality, worship, and doctrines. If we reject these, we lose. “The gift of grace which the proud has scorned is given to the lowly.”

When many of us neglect our vineyards the same way, the effect is massive. In the history of the Church in America, whenever Catholics have rejected the Church’s authority, we have quickly lost our credibility and our ability to attract followers.

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, many Catholics were afraid to offend the world and so downplayed or rejected the Church’s teaching against slavery and for the dignity of all people. The Church lost credibility and we handed our moral authority to others.

In the 20th century, when the Church taught against abortion, Catholics gained credibility whenever they stood strong for the right to life, but suffered huge losses when prominent Catholics in public life, medicine, and academia embraced and advanced the culture of death.

In the 21st century the Church is being tested again on the issue of marriage and sexuality. If we stay strong, we will suffer in the short term but then gain ground by defending the way of life that delivers true happiness. If we “slay the prophets” of Church morality, sacramental life, and teaching to try to please the world, we will lose big.

God laments: “I expected my vineyard to yield good grapes. Why did it yield sour ones instead? It is the time to examine our stewardship responsibility. As a Church we need to repent and return to be humble responsible stewards.

The greatest saints have accused themselves of being the greatest sinners. St Francis of Assisi (Whose feast falls today) called himself the worst sinner he knew.

One of his followers objected: "Oh c'mon Francis, you know you're holier than all the rest of us combined."

St Francis looked at him and responded: "If anyone else had received half the grace I have received, they would be twice as holy as I am."  He knew he was a sinner.

If we think we're not so bad, it's a sure sign that we have been infected by the lies of popular culture, and that we need to ask for some help to find out how bad we really are. Until we learn to take responsibility for our selfish actions and tendencies, God will not be able to really rejuvenate the garden of our soul with his grace. Let’s honor God the vineyard Owner and return to Him His due for the blessings He bestowed on us.