Homily for
October 2, 2005
Liturgical Year A-Cycle I
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time by Fr. Joshua Nyoni Topic: Accountability or
Answerability to God + + +
Reading I
Is 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!
Gospel Mt
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."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
first reading expresses the care with which God cultivated Israel like
a
vineyard. Despite the cherished preparation of God, the
vineyard
yielded sour
grapes. The loving initiative of God was not returned.
Jesus
reflects the same loving care of the vinedresser in his parable
concerning the
vineyard, but now he applied it to himself. After rejecting the
Servants of the
master, time and again (the prophets), the tenants now sought to kill
the son
(Jesus), the last gift of the Father. In this, they showed that they
were not
worthy servants and the fruits they produced were not proper to the
love
offered. Instead, the vineyard would be taken from them and given to
others, “to people
who will produce fruits” (Mt 21:43). The
question is, "What do we learn from the parable about
God and about
ourselves?" The
parable has much to tell us about God and the way he interacts with us
human
beings.
(1) It
tells us that God has faith in us, he believes in us, in fact
God trusts us. Like the owner of the vineyard, he entrusted it to the
cultivators. He went away and left them with their task. In as much as
God has
faith in us,he believes in human
freedom.
(2)
The parable tells us of God’s patience: God showed incredible
patience
with the
leaders of Israel. He gave
them one opportunity after another to change their ways. He sent
prophet after
prophet to them. When it became clear that more patience was futile,
God passed
judgment on them. God held them accountable for their actions. We
see
clearly that God who is patient is also a just judge. We see both sides
of the
same God.
(3)
The
parable tells us about ourselves = our privileges= the vineyard was
equipped
with the edge, the wine presser, the tower- which enable the
cultivators to do
their work. God does not only give us a task to do: he also gives us
the means to do the work. So the privileges we have brings about
accountability or answerability. To us will come a day of reckoning--a
day of judgment. We shall
be answerable for the way in which we have carried out the task God
gave us to
do.
(4)
Even Jesus, the Son of God when we read the Gospels we see the
same two
dimensions of God. Like God, we sometimes forget that Jesus has a
“stormy
side.” The same compassionate Jesus who said to the people, “ Come to
me, all
you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28) also
said to those who ignored the needy, “ Depart from me, you accursed
into the
eternal fire” (Mt 25:41). The same gentle Jesus who said to the people
“Learn
from me for I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29)also
“made a whip out of cords” ( Jn 2:15) and
drove out the moneychangers from the temple. Therefore, we find Jesus
reflecting the
same two dimensions as God does. God is not only a patient God, who
loves us
very much but also a just judge who holds us accountable for our
actions.
May these thoughts
help us to follow the God of Jesus Christ.