27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Fr. Francis)

The common theme of today’s readings is the necessity of bearing fruit in the Christian life and the consequent punishment for spiritual sterility, ingratitude, and wickedness. 

The Jewish Scriptures tell us that God drove out wicked nations and gave a country to the Hebrews whom He had delivered from slavery in Egypt, God’s own chosen people. Today, for both Isaiah and Jesus, God’s people are a cultivated vineyard. But those same Scriptures also say that when the chosen abandoned God and choose their own ways, God used wicked nations as His instrument to drive them out into exile. The antiphon for this Mass reminds us, “Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, and there is none that can resist your will.” God is in control, will not be mocked, and intimately bound up with his vineyard.

There can be no misunderstanding Jesus. His parable is about Israel — who rejected God’s prophets and the landowner’s son. The psalmist says is no uncertain terms: “The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.” Jesus says of it in terrifying words, “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.”

So, is this an anti-Semitic message from Scripture? During the last two thousand years, many Christians have taken just that interpretation — judging Israel as unworthy, and then smugly, self-complacently, congratulating themselves as worthy, as better than anyone else. But this Mass paints a different picture. The Collect implores God “for mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer dares not ask.” Our act of Contrition at the beginning of the Mass, our prayer “Lord have Mercy,” our prayer before Communion: “Lord I am not worthy that you come under my roof” are not self-congratulatory; they are not a declaration of our worthiness or goodness, but a frank recognition of who we are.

Israel was chosen to bear the knowledge of God for the whole world, to be the vehicle by which all of us can accept God’s calling and invitation. God brought a vine out of Egypt and sent out its branches everywhere, and God’s Church, planted by Jesus, has spread throughout the world extending that invitation through the chosen people to everyone. When we accept that invitation, we become the new vineyard called to yield good fruit in the Church and in the world. To do that, God gives us the Scriptures, the teaching authority of the Church, the Sacraments so that each one of us can choose God’s ways rather than our own ways in our daily lives.

But the reality is that our fallen human nature can often yield not good grapes, but wild grapes — not good grain, but weeds. And what was true of Isaiah’s vineyard is no less true of ours. “He expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry.” Each of us has the possibility of choosing or not choosing Him. When we do choose Him we come into our own; we bear good fruit. But when we decide for ourselves what is good and evil, we go our own way. The whole story of the garden of Eden is played out every day in our souls. Deep down in that inner room of our soul, we know what God wants us to do or not do, or to say or not say. Each time we turn away from that, and put ourselves first — put ourselves in the driver’s seat to go where we want, to live in ways that we know that God does not want from us — we become those to whom God says: “What more was there to do for my vineyard? I expected it to yield grapes; why did it yield wild grapes?”

But it seems so hard, doesn’t it? The truth is that we cannot bear good fruit on our own. Oh, for a time, we might do reasonably well — but sooner or later we find ourselves going our own way. We cannot help ourselves. We are, after all, only human. And that is why we are here — in this church, at this Mass — because we know that we cannot bear good fruit on our own. That is why God gives us the Sacraments, that is why we pray for each other. We come here relying upon the promise of today’s Communion Antiphon: “The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks Him.” That goodness comes to us not because we earn it through never falling or making mistakes or congratulating ourselves on being Catholic Christians. It comes to us when, recognizing how short we fall from the mark, we pick ourselves up, reorient ourselves to God’s ways, and once again continue to hope, trust and seek Him — so that with the help of Him who called us into the vineyard, we might bear good fruit.

Are we good fruit-producers in the vineyard of the Church?  Jesus has given the Church everything necessary to make Christians fruit-bearing:  i) The Bible to know the will of God.  ii) The priesthood to lead the people in God’s ways. iii) The Sacrament of Reconciliation for the remission of sins.  iv) The Holy Eucharist as our spiritual Food and Drink. v) The Sacrament of Confirmation for a dynamic life of Faith. vi) The Sacrament of Matrimony for the sharing of love in families, the fundamental unit of the Church. vii) Role models in thousands of saints We are expected make use of these gifts and produce fruits for God.

Are we fruit-producers in the vineyard of the family? By the mutual sharing of blessings, by sacrificing  time and talents for the members of the family,  by humbly and lovingly serving others in the family, by recognizing and encouraging each other and by honoring and gracefully obeying our parents, we become producers of “good fruit” or good vines in our families and give God the Glory for these accomplishments.

Are we ready to face these hard questions? Have we come close to fulfilling God’s dream about us?  What kind of grapes do we as a parish community produce? Are they sweet or sour?  What is our attitude toward everything God has given to us? Are we grateful stewards for everything God has given to us, or are we like the ungrateful tenants who acted as if they owned everything God had given them?  Do we practice justice every day of our lives? Do we recognize the righteousness of God that keeps us from self-righteousness? Do we remember to show mercy? Is our parish a real sign of Jesus’ presence and love? What kind of impact do we have? Do we measure the quality of our parish by what happens during Mass, or on what happens when we leave Church? Obviously, both are important but there cannot be one without the other.

Let us ask the Lord for the grace to bear good fruits that will last. Amen

Fr. A. Francis HGN