May Jesus Christ be
praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.
Today is the third consecutive Sunday when we have heard a parable
about a vineyard. Two weeks ago, we
heard of the laborers who were hired at different times throughout the
day. We heard of the generosity of the
master and the privilege and rewards of serving in the vineyard. Last week we heard of the two sons who were
invited by their father to go and work in his vineyard. One of the sons was obedient and one of the
sons was not. Last week we were invited
to ponder our response to the invitation of the Lord. On this Sunday, in the final parable of the
vineyard, the Lord invites us to harvest the fruits and account for our
stewardship of the vineyard.
The prophet Isaiah and the Lord Jesus both express to us the care with
which the Lord tends the vineyard. The
Lord provides for the protection of the vineyard. The Lord sends laborers into the vineyard to
care for its growth, and the Lord expects a harvest at the proper time. The vineyard was entrusted to stewards. Their responsibility was to care for the
vineyard on behalf of the owner and provide the owner with the harvest. The stewards in our parable today forgot that
they were stewards, not owners. When the
owner sent messengers for the harvest, the stewards rejected, stoned and killed
one of them. When the owner sent more
messengers they were treated the same way.
The stewards wanted to keep the harvest for themselves. Finally the owner of the vineyard, believing
that the stewards would respect his son, sent his son to the vineyard. The stewards killed the son because he was
the heir of the vineyard of his father.
They did not kill him because they wanted to keep the harvest. They killed the son because they wanted to
keep the vineyard. They forgot that they
were stewards, not owners.
This final parable of the vineyard summarizes for us the history of
salvation. The precious vineyard is the
creation of the Lord. The people of the
world are the stewards. The messengers
are the judges and the prophets. The son
who dies at the hands of the unjust stewards is the Lord Jesus. The parable summarizes the past.
And yet, my brothers and sisters, this parable speaks of the present
time as well. We are part of the
vineyard of the Lord. In fact, each of
us, each of our lives is a precious vineyard of the Lord. Each of us was created from the infinite love
of the Father. We were claimed by the
Son in the waters of baptism, and anointed by the Holy Spirit. We have been made the stewards of creation
and entrusted with the gifts of his grace for our salvation and for the
building up of his kingdom. We desire to
be good stewards. Therefore, my brothers
and sisters, we must heed the message of the law and the prophets. We must receive the Son with reverence, joy
and thanksgiving. This means for each of
us that we must constantly be attentive to the vineyard of our own soul. We are called each day to remove the weeds
and anything that is harmful from our lives so that we can offer an abundant
and fruitful harvest to the Lord. We are
invited each Sunday to listen attentively to the words of the prophets,
apostles, and the Lord himself. We are
invited to follow the instruction of Saint Paul and set our minds on what is
gracious, pure, just, and holy. Setting
our minds and hearts on these things and seeking to welcome the message of the
Lord, we will be formed as good stewards of the vineyard.
As we celebrate this Eucharist today, we ask for the grace to remember
that the Lord has made us stewards of his gifts. We seek to remove from the vineyard of our
lives anything that is harmful. And we
ask for the grace to receive the Son of God with gladness and offer to him an abundant
harvest. Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church, Monroe, NC
