Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR A TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY - 2.10.05 Is 5,1-7; Phil 4,6-9; Mt 21,33-43 Perennial meaning: wicked tenants 2
vineyard parables.
Parables are disguised allegory aimed at discovering our human blindness:
they are timeless, in that they apply before Jesus’ time, during his life
& most importantly in our Christian history & our life-time. In God’s
vineyard, we run the danger of becoming ‘wicked tenants’, when we fail to
discern & carry out God’s will for us in the Church. Parables are hard to
take, because they make us realize that we humans are capable of persecuting,
expelling & destroying one another, simply because our attitudes are
conflictual & troublesome. It’s tragic that, again & again, in ancient
& near past, in our communities & families, we -continually- fail to
recognize God & the people he sends to us; - continually we keep opposing
& rejecting God & one another. Today, we are invited to see how this
tragic tale of rejection was lived out in the Prophets’ life in Old Testament,
at the rejection of Jesus by Scribes & Pharisees, among Orthodox, Catholics
& Protestants, throughout our Christian history, as indeed today in our
dealings with one another as Christian groups. Our task is to see how this has
taken place in our history & continues to take place in our lifetime. We are
invited to discover the perennial meaning of the two powerful ‘vineyard
parables’ contained in the 1st reading & Gospel of today. Truly the
message is troublesome & truly we are yet again invited to produce fruits of
repentance. The perennial truth is that God has continued to send prophets &
holy people and especially his own Son... and yet look how many times religious
freedom has been “killed” in our Christian countries: in Ireland or in
Australia in early Settlement days, or in Communist Countries in the last fifty
years, to mention just 3 sad incidents. Who
are the ‘wicked tenants’ in the
Church today?? Today, we are meant to be shaken off our wits. Jesus
confronts chief Priests & Pharisees, but the message is for us: leaders,
ministers & teachers of all time: for us here & now. We run the risk of
being insensitive, rebellious, divided, conflictual, with God & one
another... & still believe we are perfect. Today as we prayerfully reflect,
we can’t help relating to experiences & vibes from our life-situations,
affecting us where we are right now. We can’t help sensing that the tragic
condemnation of the parable is threatening the mind & mood of our present
day confrontations. By the two stories, the early Christians were urged to
assess their position as followers of Christ, against the realization that most
of their contemporaries rejected Jesus’ claim to be God’s Son. This same
realization, Matthew gives to his readers across the centuries, & to us now.
Yes, it was & is, God’s plan that God’s Son be expelled from the
vineyard and killed. For us & for our salvation, he willingly accepted this
dreadful mission of love. Yes, God’s word is powerful when it says: ‘My
people, what more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done? Why,
when I came for grapes it produced wild grapes? The ‘vineyard parables’ give
a perennial warning. They tell the story of God’s dealing with us over
centuries & millennia. Let us stop & think, how many ‘servants’
(prophets & saints, men & women), God has sent to us, that we have
rejected. A rejection that has continued across our Christian history. In that
rejection, the Son has himself been rejected by us, as we’ve rejected one
another. It’s important we see ourselves included & caught up in the plot:
owner, tenants, messengers, son, killers...., all holding to an individual logic, reason, disappointment &
condemnation. Let’s look for our ‘blind spots’ in our responsibilities to
God & our fellow ‘tenants’. Pray for each other ______________________________________ |
