06/10/2002 27th. Ordinary Sunday Year A /// www.cinquepani.it

The Lord keeps on showing us the great love by which the sons and daughters of God are embraced, the great love of which the Church is the object. The first reading, as well as the responsorial psalm 79 and the gospel, have as a central theme the loving care of the “One” who planted a vineyard with all care in the best place, worked the land, chose the vines, made sure its protection. Then he waited for the fruit, but remained disappointed. Awaited grapes of good quality, and instead the grapes he could gather is wild. On this vineyard he turns his back, and neglects it. It will be devasted by wild animals, all kinds of thorns and weeds shall grow in it.

The Jews understond that the one who is speaking, intends to speak of the people of Israel. Jesus too speaks of the vineyard and the vine dressers, and who is listening can understand how much the people is at heart, a people who is unfortunately guided by leaders who doesn’t work for God. They enjoy all His trust but they don’t know how to cooperate because they have their own personal interests.

Jesus tells a parable. An owner, during his absence, entrust his vineyard to trust worthy tenants, but these don’t know how to keep their role. Instead of working for their lord, they work for themselves, they take possession. At the time of vintage they don’t recognize the right of the owner of the vineyard and refuse to hand him the harvest.

All understand what Jesus was talking about. God sent His prophets to call on His people to live the convenant, to change His Word  of Wisdom into a life, to be a sign of His love for all nations. But the people always refused to listen to the prophets, and the leaders have left them talking  or even persecuted them and killed them. The same rejection is to happen to Jesus, the Son the Father sent as His last messenger. Sending His Son, the Father fulfilled the greatest act of love one can imagine, the greatest sign of trust in the good will of His people!

Jesus knows the oracles of the prophets and knows that He is to be rejected, he conceal it in the parable, but His words are clear for those who want to understand. How can God fulfills His plan of reaching all the peoples of the world with His love and His wisdom? How can He save all human beings? To whom will He trust the richness of His grace, the gifts and charisims of His goodness? He shall be obliged to look for or form a new people that carries out  His plan unselfishly and obediently!

We don’t know who is this people, if it’s the one Jesus started to form calling them the Twelve, instructing and forming them as disciples to proclaim that the Kingdom is at hand and is for all. This people is the Church, a people formed from those who believe in Him, in Jesus, from those who trust to be involved by His love and by His sacrifice.

Me too form part of this people, and with me many more others, all the other Christians, of different origins, of different languages, from far away lands. Their belonging to Jesus fill them with the Holy Spirit of God, making them my brothers, unite them, sanctifiy them, conform them to the Son and prepare them to be light and salt of the earth. We can all together present to the Father the fruit of His love, a brotherhood where divine life can be expressed through communion and reciprocal acceptance.

In this Kingdom God is in the first place, entroned: here peace flows, peace of heart and mind, peace among peoples, peace that is not fruit of human work, but that comes from above and renders our minds to remain focused on Jesus. He is the one who comes from the Father and makes us feel realized. Saint Paul, in the second reading, though a short one, from the Letter to the Phillipians, warns us not to get anxious or worried: in every situation we can turn to God who listen to us, who gives peace, and makes us able to remain absorbed in nice, useful and good thoughts.

We can always turn to God and He is always ready to listen to us, even more He loves to listen to our voice and see us turning our hearts to Him. We are His vineyard, that, if nourished by His Word and His Spirit, bears certainly a fruit that fulfills His will of goodness to all humanity.

Lord Jesus, Son of the living God, come: I want to give you all my heart, all my love, all my strength. Accept my life and the life of all your faithful, ‘ so that the Father receive glory and joy seeing us built on you, the corner stone on which is built the structure of His love.