Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
It’s not hard to find a connecting theme within the Scripture readings for this Twenty-seventh Sunday of the Year. It’s the vineyard! This is a favorite image throughout the Old Testament including the Prophet Isaias as well as Jesus in today’s Gospel.
Why is the vineyard such a powerful teaching tool? First of all, because it was such a valuable property in itself. Everyone knew that a vineyard represented a great deal of labor and what we might call “sweat equity” over a long period of time to get it established and ready to start producing. The personal investment of time and labor was freely given with the hope that the final product would be abundant.
Therefore, when the Prophet Isaias or Jesus presented the vineyard as a perfect image of how God cares for them people came to attention. It was God, they said, who invested “sweat equity” in them as a people. And it was God who had great expectations that those favored people would respond with abundant and beautiful fruit.
The Gospel parable today builds on the importance of the vineyard and then shifts to the character of the vineyard caretakers. When these laborers lost sight of the responsible stewardship entrusted to them it was but a short step to greed and evil behavior. The parable reaches its climax when the laborers plunder the vineyard by attacking and killing the owner’s son. This shocked the Pharisees, not just because of the evil deed, but because they were stung to see their worst motives implicated in the lesson of the parable.
We may not have direct knowledge about caring for a vineyard, but we do know what it means to be totally invested in a personal hope and expectation. If that expectation is rejected or destroyed, for whatever reason, we feel it deeply. It’s the normal human reaction.
Our faith gives us a powerful perspective when dealing with personal suffering and damaged hope, especially when dealing with the forces of evil. It is Jesus, rejected and condemned, but risen from the dead who provides a living relationship with us if we choose it. Far from mere wishful thinking, this invested union with the Lord in thought, word and deed, provides us with something new and lasting. It provides new meaning, a new beginning, and new hope.
Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections