27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 2, 2011

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Today’s Gospel message is the second of three parables about the End Times and Final Judgment. And as in last week’s Gospel, Jesus is challenging the chief priests and elders of the people once again. This time he tells a parable about himself who will die at the hands of very bad and corrupt tenants. It is challenges like this one where Jesus either claims to be the Son of God or insinuates that he is that costs him his life. The chief priests and the elders of the people would be familiar with this image of a Vineyard. It identified their covenant relationship with God as owner of the vineyard and them as gifted recipients to care for the precious vineyard.

“God looked for justice but found only bloodshed, for righteousness but was disappointed with the outcry. God had planted choice grapes but in return all that was produced by a faithless people was wild or, more literally, sour and stinking, rotten grapes.” Without holding anything back, God provided all that would be needed for Israel to grow and flourish so as to harvest in the world the good fruits of peace, justice and mutual love and service. Those so blessed were to respond to God by caring for one another with a generosity that was worthy of their Creator. This mutual care can be described as a stewardship that must be exercised until Jesus comes again for the final harvest of humankind. But what went wrong? Instead, the wild grapes of violence, idolatry and abuse of the poor were the produce. Often times we reject God’s love by being ungrateful for his numerous gifts, instead claiming we deserve more. We sin by our disrespect – even hatred – of others who are his beloved children.

Tending God’s vineyard includes two key attitudes: accountability and appreciation. In keeping with the challenge of today’s readings, each of us is to care conscientiously and even anxiously for that portion of God’s great vineyard that depends on us for survival. We are accountable for what we do with God’s gifts to us. The “primary vineyard” of our lives may be family, relatives, neighbors and friends for whose needs we are responsible. More precious than any material possession, the family is comprised of relationships that are in need of continuous tending. This is the place where we learn who God is, who we are and how unique each of us is in God’s eyes and just how precious and valuable we are. For our students, your primary work now is to dedicate yourself to your work as a student – your vocation in the here and now. This is also a time for you to discover your particular talents and to learn how to share them responsibly. What are your passions? What talents and gifts do you have – sports, art, music, drama to name a few. An important part of accountability is to be aware that all that we have and are come to us as gifts from a loving God! We work hard to sustain those gifts – but at the very essence of them, they are gift!

God shows his Extreme love for us in that he sent His Son Jesus Christ to live and die for us. Jesus is the son in that parable. We are the cherished plant in God’s vineyard. Our response to God’s love for us has to be appreciation, gratitude, thankfulness! When violence, idolatry as love of money and material possessions take hold of our hearts and make us lose our concern and care for the poor, then the fruit we produce is not good fruit of appreciation put into action, but of wild grapes that produce no good wine, but only sour vinegar.

Maybe this week will allow us time to look into our hearts and think about what kind of fruit we are producing. Maybe there are some things that need to be pruned and hoed, like resentments, obsession over being wronged, shaken faith for any reason including painful and sudden loss, or spiritual deafness caused by the incessant clamor of the world bombarding us with images and songs and movies which are either amoral at best if not down- right immoral!

Are we indeed living lives where we are accountable to God for how we share his blessings to us with others and how we have an attitude of gratitude? What kind of fruit are we producing? Does our labor in God’s vineyard make His Kingdom more visible? If not, our story need not have a tragic end, but can still yield the joy of conversion!