Giving God His Harvest

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Oct. 2, 2011 (Mt 21:33-43)

"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.

Jesus' parable in the Gospel today presents salvation history. God is the owner and Israel, God's people, is the vineyard. The tenants to whom the owner entrusted the care of the vineyard are the leaders of the house of Israel. Throughout history, God has been gracious to Israel. He saved them from slavery and made a covenant with them. And He expected them to be faithful to Him. He sent them His prophets to remind them that they must be loyal to Him and that they must live fruitful lives and live up to the privilege of being God's people. But these prophets were killed and their message was ignored. But then happens the unimaginable. God sent His only Son to the vineyard to show us how to be fruitful and to give us an example of obedience to God.

In retelling the whole story, Jesus reminds Israel and their leaders, and even us, who are also God's people, that we have to do our part. The story is not only about God giving and giving because He loves mankind. God's love for us demands fruit - a faith response manifested not only in a firm belief and a deep devotion, but also in concrete actions.

This is what Jesus is telling us today. God planted in our hearts the seed of faith, and He entrusted us to nurture this and to let it grow and bear fruit. All that we have are from Him - our talents, our abilities, our lives and our very being. Therefore, we must make something of all His gifts so that we may offer Him back the fruits He deserves and expects from us.

Yes it is true that we belong to God. Yet, not only us, but everything we do and everything we produce are supposed to be God's. When we do not do what is right, we deprive God of the goodness we ought to have. If we sin, we offer to God an act that is not pleasing to Him. But when we obey His will, following the example of the Son whom He sent us, we allow ourselves to be totally His; our very being, our actions and the fruits that we shall bear become totally God's.

It is no easy task to produce a bountiful harvest. But God already did part of the work. All we need to do is to follow Jesus' example of obedience to God and to allow ourselves to receive and nurture the graces God gives us. In time, we will produce God's harvest. And we will be His loyal tenants and fruitful vineyard.

The Biggest Announcement

3rd Sunday of Lent Mar. 7, 2010 (Lk 13:1-9)

At that time some people who were present there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!"

And he told them this parable: "There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, 'For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?' He said to him in reply, 'Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.'"

The Jews held the belief that suffering and illnesses were due to the punishment of God. At one instance, the apostles even asked Jesus about a blind man, whether it was the blind man or his parents who sinned, that he was born blind (Jn 9:2).

As Christians, we need to erase this kind of mentality. In today's Gospel, Jesus explains that those who died a cruel death are not necessarily sinners being punished. Suffering is not necessarily a punishment from God. We need to see suffering in a better light. It is part of our life as humans of the fallen nature. Because of the example of Christ, we can see suffering not as useless pain. We can now see suffering as a purification, a purgation, something that can bring about something good in the end. The greatest example of salvific suffering is the murder of the most innocent Son of God that brought about the salvation of mankind.

As Jesus points out that not all suffering come from God, He also warns us that suffering will indeed come if we remain sinners. Yes, God does not punish men immediately in this world, but that doesn't mean that there is no punishment at all. His mercy cannot do anything against human freedom. His mercy also cannot contradict His justice. Therefore, Jesus took this opportunity to warn us about a fate worse than earthly suffering - eternal suffering.

Our Lenten season is an annual amplification of the call for repentance. In the Gospel today, we are the fig tree that God expects to bear fruit. God has been so patient with us. How many times have we sinned, repented and sinned again? Yet, even though we always fall into sin, God is ever faithful and merciful, though as was said, this is limited by His justice.

God gives us the necessary graces in order for us to bear fruit. He gives us fertilizer that we may grow. What is sad is that when we are given much graces to help us recognize God and realize that He is calling us to repentance, we give more attention to the graces and less to the Giver. God nourishes us physically and spiritually that we may bear fruit and that we may be strong enough to journey back to Him. The greatest nourishment God gave us is the Body and Blood of His only Son. Jesus' is the loudest announcement of God's call for repentance. The Calvary scene says so many things. Through this picture of a suffering innocent God-man, God tells us, "I love you enough that I paid your own debt to Me. Come back to Me now! Nothing can separate you from My love."

Jesus' death, being the greatest call for repentance, is God's last call. God said everything when He sent Jesus here. Jesus, the Word of God, is the last call. God can say no more. Let us heed God's call for repentance.