Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Mt 21: 33-43
October 8, 2023 | Sunday
Listen to another example: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then, went to a distant country. When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Again, the owner sent more servants; but they were treated in the same way. Finally, he sent his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they thought, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?” They said to him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due time.” And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it. Therefore I say to you: the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you, and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
Today’s Reflection:
Jesus’ parables strike anger and fear in the Religious Authority. The prostitute and the publicans are not only ahead of them, but the Kingdom will also be taken from them because “they did not produce its fruit.” In the parable, the owner did everything for the vineyard to produce good fruit. He expected that the tenants would pay him what was due to him in due time. He sent servants and the heir to collect his due. The tenants rejected them just as the Religious Authority rejected John and Jesus. The owner did not receive his expected yield. We, too, work for God’s vineyard. He calls and reminds us of the good grapes that our lives should produce. Let us take care of the vineyard lest its fruits become sour. Let our lives offer sweet fruit worthy of the Lord. /Vulnerasti, 2023.
