The Universal Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, October 08, 2023 as the twenty seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A. In the Entrance Antiphon we pray: “O Lord, you have given everything its place in the world, and no one can make it otherwise. For it is your creation, the heavens and the earth and the stars: you are the Lord of all. Amen.”
This day’s liturgy speaks to us in very beautiful terms of God’s love for his vineyard, that is, his chosen people of Israel, who, unfortunately, fail to respond to that love in kind. This comes out in Prophet Isaiah’s love song of the vineyard in the first reading. Israel is symbolized by God’s plantation, which is full of promise with God being the loving owner who does everything to ensure that it brings forth a good harvest. Unfortunately, all it yields are sour grapes. It is this same vineyard that our Lord refers to in Matthew’s Gospel message of this Eucharist. God does, however, demand in return that the vines produce good fruit. Saint Paul, in the second reading, continues to urge his converts of Philippi to remain faithful to the norms and traditions of the Church. No matter the worries of our everyday lives, our thoughts and actions should be focused on that which is good and true so that the Church can remain united in love and harmony. Let us pray for the grace to be good workers in the Lord’s vineyard so that our Lord will reward us with a place in his kingdom.
First Reading: Isaiah 5: 1-7.
Let me now sing of my friend, 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!
Comment
Prophets had a tradition of comparing the people of Israel to God’s vineyard. This first reading, from Isaiah’s “Song of the Vineyard”, is a good example of such biblical writing that portrays the chosen people as the vineyard of the Lord. The owner puts much effort to cultivate his vineyard expecting a good yield at harvest time, but all he gets for his effort are sour grapes. In his disappointment he turns his vineyard into a wasteland, knocking down the walls, and abandoning it to waste. This vineyard, Isaiah tells us, is the people of Israel who have gone astray and have sinned against God. They forget that God had brought them out of the land of Egypt by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror (Jeremiah 32:21).
The owner of the vineyard, God himself, values his people of Israel and brings them out of captivity to plant them in Palestine, a land flowing with milk and honey. The fruits he expects from them, and from us, are faithfulness to his covenant, respect for social justice, and love of the poor, the orphan, and the widow.
Isaiah tells his parable in the form of a poem concerning the people of Israel, who are so dear to the Lord. Unfortunately, they are the Lord’s vineyard which has unpredictably produced only sour grapes. In the end, God, who has done all to ensure that his vineyard produce good fruits and an abundant harvest, is forced to abandon it. That is what happens when, against God’s explicit desires, his people reject his love and turn to worship pagan gods, thereby disregarding the demands of his Law. Christ echoes this biblical tradition of the Lord’s vineyard in Saint Matthew’s Gospel of this day, referring to the Scribes and Pharisees, persecutors of God’s messengers.
What lesson can we take home from Isaiah’s prophecy? We can apply what this reading is saying to our African context by comparing the Church that is in Africa to the Lord’s vineyard. We can then ask what kind of grapes our Lord can find in his African vineyard? And what are these fruits we are talking about? They are acts of charity, acts of love of neighbour and love of our land. Are we, in Cameroon, producing sweet or sour fruits, especially as our country is embroiled in this senseless war in the northwest and southwest regions with their accompanying destruction of human lives and property, including schools and hospitals?
What seems to stand out, though, is that after many years of Christianity, our civil leaders, many who claim to be Christians, and even our clergy and religious, still practice all kinds of injustices in their daily activities. So what Isaiah denounced several thousands of years ago, is still plaguing our Church and our country today. Public and Church funds are still being embezzled at all levels, corruption is still rampant, not only in political circles and civil society, but in the Church as well.
As we meditate on the words of Isaiah, let us pray to God to raise from among our sons and daughters good leaders, who can make of our country, and of our churches, true vineyards of our Lord where true reconciliation, justice, and social peace can reign with the blessings of Christ the risen Lord who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
Second Reading: Philippians 4: 6-9.
Brothers: and sisters: 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.
Comment
Paul expresses his joy in his Philippian converts, whom he loves and longs for from his prison cell. Even though he lives under difficult physical conditions, he still shows them that being joyful does not depend on our physical conditions. The kind of joy that fills the soul with peace, says one writer, does not derive from the satisfaction of physical or material needs but rather from faithfulness to God and his commandments and from embracing the Cross of His Son and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Paul urges his converts, and us, to seek the reconciliation, justice and social peace and harmony, which can only come to those who believe in God through his Son Jesus Christ. The peace of God will guide them in faith and love. He reminds them of the nearness of our Lord, telling them that the “Lord is at hand.” He wants to encourage them to rejoice and be understanding towards one another. In the kind of hostile environment they lived in at that time, Paul’s Christians needed to put their hope in their Saviour, Jesus Christ, who will come from heaven to judge the living and the dead.
What lesson can we draw from this reading? One lesson stands out neat and clear: the Lord is always near us, ready to take care of us in his providence. There is therefore no reason for us to feel ill at ease. He is our Father, who is near to all who call on him; he listens to our prayers and is ever ready to instruct us and give us whatever we need to overcome the difficulties of life. All that he asks is that we trustingly tell him our situation, speaking to him with the simplicity of a child.
Let us pray for the grace to always rejoice in the Lord who is at hand and who listens to our supplications whenever we turn to him in times of trials. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever. Amen.
Gospel acclamation: “Alleluia, alleluia. I have chosen you from the world, says the Lord, to go and bear fruit that will remain. Alleluia.”
Gospel: Matthew 21: 33-43
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: "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."
Comment
As we saw last Sunday, Jesus is now inside Jerusalem and confrontation with the Jewish authorities is gaining in intensity. He directs this day’s parable to this same Jewish leadership that is beginning to persecute him. He uses the image of the vineyard, which was a common sight in his day. As we saw in the first reading from Isaiah, the vineyard is the people of Israel; the owner of the vineyard is God himself; the people to whom the vineyard is leased out are the religious leaders of Israel, the Scribes and the Pharisees. The messengers are the prophets God sends to warn his people not to stray from the covenant but who are rejected and killed by the Jewish leaders. Finally, God sends Jesus Christ his only Son to save his people but he too is rejected and killed. When the Jews, the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Mt15: 24), reject the Messiah, God then revokes his covenant with them and makes a new one with other people, the Gentiles, to whom Christ sends Paul as his apostle.
This parable teaches us about stewardship and is therefore an important lesson to our Church leaders, in particular, and to all God’s people, as a whole. We all have received life from God. He has given it to us in trust and expects us to cultivate and manage this life in such a way that it bears good fruit – fruit that we can present to God the owner of our lives on the day of reckoning.
This parable shows us God as a trusting and patient owner of the vineyard, who does not entrust responsibility to us without first making sure that we are well equipped to carry it out. As Matthew tells us, he first plants the vineyard, then builds a fence around it, digs a wine press and builds a watchtower before handing it over to us. After leasing it to us, he does not stand around to supervise our management skills, rather he leaves everything in our hands and goes off to a different country. He trusts that we will not disappoint him. Unfortunately, many of us become like the tenants in the Gospel, abusive of what has been freely handed over to us. We destroy what Pope Francis calls our common home, by polluting our environment and destroying nature. As parents, we often abuse the right God has given us to continue his work of creation. We even destroy his work of creation by waging a war in the womb against unborn babies. We forget to sing with the Psalmist: “You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb” (Ps 139:13).
This parable also highlights God’s patience with us. He sends messenger after messenger to the rebellious managers of his estate, who refuse to render account of their stewardship of his property. With each messenger, God provides another chance for us to put an end to our rebellion and to do the right thing. Finally, he gives us a last chance by sending his only Begotten Son to bring us back from sin to salvation. His patience finally grows thin when his Son is killed in turn. God then seizes all the privileges he reserved for his chosen people of Israel and transfers them to the Gentiles, who are more promising and who observe his commandments. As Jesus tells the Jewish leaders, the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you do (Mt 21:31). Let us pray to God to strengthen our faith so that our work in his vineyard can produce a bountiful harvest of sweet grapes in the form of our brothers and sisters, who might have fallen on the wayside in the faith, but whom we have brought back to the Lord through the witness of our Christian lives.
Let us pray with Pope Francis for peace to return to our country: “God, our Father. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother” or “sister,” and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! We make this supplication through Christ the risen Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever. Amen.
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