Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year A
Readings: Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43
The Stone Rejected by Builders
The Gospel of this Sunday focuses on the allegory of the owner of the vineyard and his dealings with the tenants, or its other way around, how the tenants treat the vineyard and the owner’s servants. Before we look in detail the Gospel of today, let us take some time to look at the first reading from prophet Isaiah. We have a similar story here, where the owner (God) plants a vineyard, makes all the necessary arrangements for the vines to grow safely and securely, but the vines produce sour grapes! After all the efforts of the owner, whet he gets is bad fruit. How disappointing is that?
The Gospel, on the other hand, has a slight variation than that of the first reading: the owner has to deal with the tenants. The parable is similar, except that the owner hands over is vineyard to the tenants to look after and sends his servants to collect his share of the produce during the harvest. Interestingly, the tenants have turned against the landowner. They not only despise the servants, but go to the extent of killing some of them. Now that is really gross and violent. It does not stop there; when the owner sends his son, the tenants seize the opportunity to possess the whole vineyard to themselves by killing the heir! It is the ultimate brutality one can expect from his/her tenants.
Imagine the same situation today, in our own life. Each one of us are created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26) and have been provided with necessary things with which we can live a comfortable life. On the other hand we are also given the responsibility to look after the vineyard of God; God’s creation around us. How are we managing this vineyard?
First of all, are we bearing good fruit: are we using our talents and given opportunities and make use of our full potential to be fruitful? Are we willing to make use of all the opportunities God has given us? Secondly, how are we tending the vineyard that is in our care? Have we become selfish, like the tenants in the Gospel, and have taken possession of the goods of the earth for ourselves, or, are we able to share it with everyone, especially with the needy? It is quite a tough question to answer in todays, economically imbalanced, world.
The Social Justice Statement of this year, by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, looks at this issue of economic imbalance and challenges us to seriously give a thought towards stewardship of our resources. It is not ‘my’ world, it is ‘our’ world. It is given to us to make use and also to save it and improve it for all creation. And that is where the ‘stone rejected by the builders’ comes in handy. Because we are to focus our life on this foundation stone, Jesus. He shows us, the way to be good stewards. He shows us how to share and depend on God. The words of St paul in today’s second reading give us a clear direction, “fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise.” So that our focus is not to fill our own bellies, before everyone else’s (!), rather to reach out to everyone according to their need. It is counter cultural, and we will become the stone rejected. But we all know, in the life of Jesus, that the stone rejected becomes the ‘foundation stone’ on which everything else depends!