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| “The Heir of the Vineyard” by James Tissot 1886-96 |
Reading
1: Isaiah
5:1-7
Let me now sing of my friend,
my friend's song concerning
his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside;
he spaded it, cleared it of
stones,
and planted the choicest
vines;
within it he built a
watchtower,
and hewed out a wine press.
Then he looked for the crop
of grapes,
but what it yielded was wild
grapes.
Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah
judge between me and my
vineyard:
What more was there to do for
my vineyard
that I had not done?
Why, when I looked for the
crop of grapes,
did it bring forth wild
grapes?
Now, I will let you know
what I mean to do with my
vineyard:
take away its hedge, give it
to grazing,
break through its wall, let
it be trampled!
Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or
hoed,
but overgrown with thorns and
briers;
I will command the clouds
not to send rain upon it.
The vineyard of the Lord of
hosts is the house of Israel
and the people of Judah
he looked for judgment, but
see, bloodshed!
for justice, but hark, the
outcry!
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Commentary on Is 5:1-7
This
selection marks the beginning of what is known as the “Song of the Vineyard”.
Using the analogy of vineyard as the “hosts of the house of Israel
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R. (Is 5:7a) The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel
A vine from Egypt
you drove away the nations
and planted it.
It put forth its foliage to
the Sea,
its shoots as far as the
River.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel
Why have you broken down its
walls,
so that every passer-by
plucks its fruit,
The boar from the forest lays
it waste,
and the beasts of the field
feed upon it?
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel
Once again, O Lord of hosts,
look down from heaven, and
see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right
hand has planted
the son of man whom you
yourself made strong.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel
Then we will no more withdraw
from you;
give us new life, and we will
call upon your name.
O Lord, God of hosts, restore
us;
if your face shine upon us,
then we shall be saved.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel
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Commentary on Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
Psalm
80 is a communal lament. In these strophes the image of the vineyard is applied
to the house of Israel
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Brothers and sisters:
Have no anxiety at all, but
in everything,
by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving,
make your requests known to
God.
Then the peace of God that
surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and
sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is
honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is
pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever
is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything
worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Keep on doing what you have
learned and received
and heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be
with you.
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Commentary on Phil 4:6-9
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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
and given to a people that
will produce its fruit."
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Commentary on Mt 21:33-43
St.
Matthew describes Jesus applying the Parable of the Vineyard as he confronts
the Jewish leadership. His motivation is clearly to let them know that by
rejecting Jesus and his message about the Kingdom of God, they have forfeited
their place in the that kingdom. The description used for the vineyard is
remarkably similar to Isaiah 5:1ff (above). Reference to the servants who were
beaten and killed refers to the prophets similarly treated. The reference to
the landowner’s son is an obvious reference to Jesus as the Son of God. The
scripture quote of Psalm 118:22-23 was seen in the early church as a reference to
Jesus’ resurrection. This is seen as the vindication of the Lord and God.
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Homily
As many of you know, our priests
were gone much of last week to the annual Priest Convocation. While they were there with Bishop Boyea, an
announcement was made confirming that the Bishops of Michigan have proclaimed
the up-coming Church year which begins with Advent to be the year of
Marriage. This corresponds nicely with
the Church’s focus on Marriage and Family which begins today in Rome with an
Extraordinary Synod on the Family in the Context of Evangelization. This Extraordinary Synod is to prepare for
next year’s Ordinary Synod on the same topic.
We will be hearing much more
about our special focus on marriage during the up-coming year. Today we look at what sacred scripture tells
us and we find an easy analogy to marriage and family. The Prophet Isaiah is speaking to the Hebrew
people about failing to heed the Law of Moses and the Prophets, telling them
that God’s vineyard carefully prepared will not provide a harvest because they
have ignored the Law and Prophets.
In the Gospel, Jesus is saying
virtually the same thing to the Hebrew leaders of his day. He adds to Isaiah’s depiction the image of
his own coming, predicting his passion and death. Taking these two similar stories from scripture
we can easily see how they could be related to the church today, even the
Domestic Church. If that description
“Domestic Church” is new to you; it refers to the little churches we make in
our homes – the church of our immediate family.
Applying the story of God’s
vineyard to the domestic church we can see that God has given the heads of
households the grace to make it fit to produce the harvest God is looking
for.
- · He first makes them his adopted children in Baptism.
- · He charges the Church with providing them with additional training and education through sacramental preparation and religious education.
- · He then gives additional grace in the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation; each sacrament adding strength and faith to his children.
- · Finally, he calls each person to a vocation in service of his plan.
- Some
he calls to ordained ministry in Holy Orders.
- Some
are called to religious life while others to live chaste lives as single
adults.
- Most
are called to the Sacrament of Matrimony wherein they are joined with their
spouse and made one in a lived sacrament and the domestic church is formed.
Just as in the stories from
scripture, the vineyard has been prepared by word and sacrament. It is now up to the domestic church to plant
the proper seeds so that the harvest will be to the Lord’s pleasing. That means that the parents must build up
their ministry in the home.
The place where ministry in the
home begins is with Baptism and then by introducing the children to their
adoptive parent, God to whom they were dedicated. Perhaps one of the very first ways a child
learns about God is in prayer – first the prayer of their parents; prayers
thanking God for the gift of their children; prayers blessing them; prayers at
meals thanking God for his continued blessings on the family and prayers at
bedtime asking for safe and peaceful sleep.
Here’s a short paragraph from the
Catechism of the Catholic Church that addresses this very issue:
The Christian family is the first place of education in prayer. Based
on the sacrament of marriage, the family is the "domestic church"
where God's children learn to pray "as the Church" and to persevere
in prayer. For young children in particular, daily family prayer is the first
witness of the Church's living memory as awakened patiently by the Holy Spirit.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church #2685)
The domestic church – God’s
little vineyard is nourished with prayer.
Just as the vine grows with care from the steward of the vineyard,
children grow within the home guided by the parents. Just as the vintner must study his craft in
order to produce the best fruit, so too the parents – the heads of the domestic
church must also inform themselves so they know what outside forces might
damage their children bringing them bad influences turning them away from the
peace Christ offers.
Perhaps most importantly for the
vineyard to produce the best possible result, those responsible must be
disciplined in their own behavior. Here
we take a lesson from St. Paul who offers us these words from the second
reading:
“…Whatever
is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever
is just, whatever is pure,
whatever
is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if
there is any excellence
and
if there is anything worthy of praise,
think
about these things.
Keep
on doing what you have learned and received
and
heard and seen in me.
Then
the God of peace will be with you.”
It is an awesome task we are
charged with – building up the vineyard, and just to be clear, it is not just
the parents of children who are charged with this task, it is each of us who
hear the word of God. We are stewards of
the vineyard of the community at large.
We must take responsibility for challenging those who would prefer wild
grapes with no substance.
Today we see the need to redouble
our efforts – building the domestic church in each of our homes, we dare not
ignore this task because the consequences are not good and we wish only to
please God and follow his will.
Pax
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture is “The Heir of the Vineyard” by James Tissot 1886-96
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
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