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Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 5:1–7; Philippians 4:6–9; Matthew 21:33–46
Every time I watch the news, I ask the same question:
What is wrong with us?
There is so much violence, so much hatred, so much useless destruction.
Even if the news shows only one side of reality, it still tells us something about the mystery of sin.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the tenants.
They are given a vineyard.
It has everything.
A hedge.
A winepress.
A tower.
The landowner has prepared it well.
The tenants only have to cultivate it and give the owner his fruit at the proper time.
But when the servants come, the tenants beat one, kill another, and stone another.
What happened?
Why did they turn against the one who trusted them?
Why did they behave as if the vineyard belonged to them?
This is the mystery of sin.
Sin makes us forget that everything is received.
Life is received.
The world is received.
Faith is received.
Our talents are received.
Even the vineyard is received.
But once the heart forgets this, it begins to say:
This is mine.
I owe nothing.
I will not give the fruit.
The story goes back to the beginning.
Adam received the garden, but reached for what was not his.
Then he hid from God.
Since then, something wounded has remained in the human heart.
We want the good, but we do evil.
We promise obedience, but we resist.
We know the truth, but we hide.
Saint Paul describes this struggle:
“I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want.”
This is not only ancient history.
It is our story.
It is the story of every human heart that tries to live without the owner of the vineyard.
But the parable also reveals the mystery of God’s mercy.
The landowner sends servant after servant.
Then he sends his son.
Common sense would say:
Do not send him.
They will kill him too.
But this is what God has done.
He sent the prophets.
They were rejected.
Then He sent His Son.
And the Son was taken outside the vineyard and killed.
Jesus is speaking about Himself.
He is the Son rejected by the tenants.
He is the stone rejected by the builders.
But the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
This is the Gospel.
Sin did its worst.
Human beings rejected the Son.
But God raised Him up.
The cross, which looked like the victory of sin, became the place where mercy conquered sin.
The death of Jesus became the beginning of new life.
God did not abandon His vineyard.
He did not abandon the world to the power of violence, rebellion, and death.
In Christ, mercy is stronger than sin.
In Isaiah’s song, the Lord did not find the fruit He was seeking.
The Lord looked for justice, but found bloodshed.
He looked for righteousness, but heard a cry.
In Jesus’ parable, the tenants withheld the fruit that the vineyard produced.
They wanted to keep the vineyard and its fruit for themselves.
So today, both parables ask us serious questions:
Are we, God’s vineyard, producing the fruit that God expects?
What fruit are we withholding from God?
Everything has been entrusted to us.
Our life.
Our faith.
Our work.
Our relationships.
Our community.
The Lord comes looking for fruit:
justice, mercy, truth, faithfulness, love.
Will He find them?
Are we willing to share them with the world?
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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