God’s Love

10-08-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Anthony Okolo, C. S. Sp., V.F.

The first reading and the gospel of today share a common theme in the use of imagery they employed to convey their message. The central imagery shared by both Isaiah and Matthew is that of the vineyard of the Lord. At the same time, the vineyard of the Lord is referred to as the house of Israel. And in each case, the vineyard, instead of producing good fruits, produced wild grapes. According to Isaiah, despite all he did to care for the vineyard on the fertile hillside, planting of the choicest vines, building a watchtower to guard it when he looked for a crop of grapes what it yielded was wild grapes.

In Matthew’s own account, a landowner of a vineyard planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower and then leased it out to tenants. He provided everything needed to make the vineyard an amazing place but when it was time for the harvest the tenant killed the messengers who came to harvest the fruit of the vineyard. The summary is that God has provided everything for us to make us happy in life and to love Him but there is a complete rejection of God’s love.

Today’s parable, unlike the previous parable, needs some explanation of some of the images used as they have significant meaning to communicate the message intended. As I said earlier, the vineyard is the nation of Israel, as Christians we are the new Israel. So, when the gospel talks about the vineyard of the Lord, we are the vineyard because we are the new Israel. The owner of the vineyard is God Himself. The tenants are the political and religious leaders of Israel who are charged with the welfare of the people God has entrusted to their care. The messengers who were sent successively are the prophets sent by God and so often rejected. Then, the expected fruits are justice, uprightness, good works that God demands from us; faithfulness, and love for the poor, the vulnerable, orphan and widows. Finally, the yielded harvest from the people is false accusation, hatred, and above all bloodshed. This is against the fruit of love, faithfulness and peace God expects from His people having done everything for them.

One outstanding lesson the parable teaches us is the patience of God. Despite all the rejection by the people, He did not come with sudden vengeance. He gives them chances upon chances to respond to His love. It shows the patience of God in giving people room to return to Him with faith, trust, and love. As the book of Ezekiel says, God is not interested in the death of a wicked person but that he should repent and be saved. It tells us about human privileges. The vineyard was equipped with everything to make life easy and comfortable, but those privileges were thrown away because of selfishness and pride.

Finally, it tells us of human accountability. There must come a time when we must give account of how we have used the gifts God gave us.

Fr. Tony Okolo C.S.Sp., V.F.