Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- In the Vineyard

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 10.08.23 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Matthew 21:33–43

Friends, just before his Passion and death,
Jesus tells this striking story of the landowner who planted a vineyard.
The fertile vineyard stands for Israel,
his chosen people. But it could be broadened out to include the world.
What do we learn from this beautiful image?
That God has made for his people a place
where they can find rest, enjoyment, and good work.

We—Israel, the Church, the world
—are not the owners of this vineyard; we are tenants.
One of the most fundamental spiritual mistakes we can make
is to think that we own the world.
We are tenants, entrusted with the responsibility of caring for it,
but everything that we have and are is on loan.
Our lives are not about us.

Christ is God’s judgment.
We are all under his judgment.
In the measure that we reject him or refuse to listen to him,
we place our tenancy in jeopardy.
And so the great question that arises from this reading:
How am I using the gifts that God gave me for God’s purposes?
My money? My time? My talents? My creativity? My relationships?
All is for God,
and thus all is under God’s judgment.

[MurphsLaw]

+++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."+++