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Gospel: Matthew 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 Gospel of the Lord.
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While Saint Francis of Assisi was selling his father’s fine linens in the marketplace one day, a beggar approached him pleading for alms. Francis spontaneously emptied his pockets, giving the beggar everything he had.
When the story reached his family, he was ridiculed then scolded by his father.
But that gesture of emptying his pockets served as a turning point in his life, when Francis realized that God was inviting him to become the beggar.
Shortly thereafter, he literally stripped himself bare before his bishop in the public square, renounced his family fortune and his disapproving father.
Francis understood instinctively that everything belonged to God – not only the sun, the stars, and the birds in the sky, but also his very own life.
So, he dedicated the rest of his life to responding to God’s call to, “Rebuild my Church.”
On his deathbed at the age of 44, he said to his friends who became the first Franciscans, “My brothers, I have done what was mine to do. Now you must do what is yours to do.”
Francis’ life stands in stark contrast to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, who were obsessed – not with poverty or self-giving – but with privilege and power.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus condemns the religious authorities for plotting his death, which is only days away. Just as their ancestors seized and killed the prophets, so Jesus knew they would seize him and put him to death.
“Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you,” he says, “and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”
The religious authorities were like the “wicked tenants” in the Gospel parable, who tried taking possession of what was not theirs – the land they stood on, the winepress, the vineyard, and the fruit it produced.
They ignored the fact that were stewards, not owners, of the property, begging the question, what belongs to God?
And what, if anything, in this world belongs to us?
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As I was being ordained a priest, I remember lying on the cold, hard marble floor of our cathedral. As songs of praise filled the air, echoing deep into my soul, I felt a profound conviction that my life was no longer my own.
I was being ordained to be, in the words of Mother Teresa, “A pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”
Since then, I’ve struggled to give God not just something, but everything I have – my time, my treasure, my talent, and the deepest hungers of my heart.
Still, I hear him constantly inviting me to bear good fruit. Or, in the words of Francis, “to do what is mine to do.”
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So what does that invitation sound like?
When a parishioner stops me with a heavy heart or has good news to share after Mass; when a giddy, newly engaged couple asks me to celebrate their wedding; when parents ask me to baptize their child.
When the hospital chaplain calls in the middle of the night; when someone is suddenly in need of confession; or when a grieving family asks me to bury their loved one.
That is God asking for my time.
When your children are standing in the foyer, waiting to ambush you right after you return from a long day of work; when they’re eager to talk about their own day; or when they beg you to read them a bedtime story.
When an elderly parent can no longer walk or drive on their own and asks you to bring them to Mass; when your spouse asks you to listen to their side of the story; when someone asks you to pray for them; or when the pastor asks you to get involved in ministry.
That’s often God asking for your time.
When floods come rushing in, sweeping away entire neighborhoods; when families lose their sole breadwinner and have nowhere else to go; when the poor cry out in need.
That’s Jesus calling out to us in distressing disguise.
When the Lord knit us together, and gifted us with an utterly unique fingerprint that nobody else will ever bear, he also gave us a unique set of talents intended for his glory.
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So, when do you hear God calling you to bear good fruit? And how do you respond?
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We are only stewards in this life. Ultimately, everything and everyone belongs to God.
In this Eucharist, may the Lord intercede for us, that we would live generous lives like Francis of Assisi, doing what is “ours” to do, living like a pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.
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Image credits: (1) Walking Humbly With God (2) Witness Tree Vineyard (3) Pinterest
