by Sister Karen M. Cavanagh, C.S.J.
“I HAVE CHOSEN you from the world, says the Lord, to go and bear fruit that will remain …” (John 15:16)
And we are to keep growing in every generation until time be no more. Is that what God’s choice really means? For me? For you? For each and every one of us?
Are we not baptized into Christ Jesus? Does this Sunday’s Gospel not remind us that this One into whom we are baptized is the “wonderful cornerstone,” who was rejected by His own people – and is still rejected by so many of this day’s “builders”? Why? Because God’s ways are not our ways!
Father Larry Gillick, S.J., whose Scripture reflections have helped me for many years, once wrote: “God’s ways are so different from our own … some readings really need to be read while upside-down.”
No Exclusions, Entitlements
In His parables and teachings Jesus seems to turn the status quo – views, standards and rules of relationships, entitlements and even “holiness” – upside down. There are no exclusions to the questions: “Who is my neighbor?”; “How many times must I forgive?”; “Where is God?”; and “Who can enter your vineyard?”
Oftentimes in life, we look for a “pass” or exclusion from the real responsibilities. We turn away; we cry out “spare me;” we make excuses or we judge another person, cause or situation as unworthy, hopeless or not important enough. We all know that this also happens in our world, our nation and our Christian Catholic church communities.
This Sunday, it is as though God lifts us up, turns us upside-down, shakes the riches, blessings and gifts from our hearts and says: “Look, at what I give you when I choose you in this world!”
Isaiah proclaims a love song for God’s chosen ones, the people of Israel. The Church continues to proclaim and challenge us with that same song today. Throughout salvation history, God has sought to tend and nurture us always: watering, clipping, cultivating, turning our hardened hearts and spirits, clearing away the debris and dry weeds and fertilizing our lives with grace and mercy.
Each and every one of us, both individually and together, are the “vineyard of the Lord.” St. Paul reminds us as well that it is “by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving” that we request God’s continued care and nurturing of our inner ground, the soil of our lives.
Peace of God
As we are encouraged to have no fear, to have “no anxiety at all,” we cannot close our eyes to the immediate cultivating and clipping necessary for the fruit to be “good.”
St. Paul continues by giving us a few behavioral modification exercises. He urges us to think about “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,” excellent and praiseworthy, and then that peace of God and God of peace will be with you and “will guard your hearts and minds.”
Matthew’s Gospel continues with Isaiah’s imagery, but puts a less comforting reminder in the parable Jesus tells the chief priests and elders (and if we fast-forward, this includes us and all in the world, national and religious groups of which we are members). This parable is set within the context of Jesus’ final days. Like the prophets of old and John, His baptizer, Jesus senses His time is before Him and soon.
Cast in Which Role
Like most parables, we are part of the cast of characters, and if we’re honest with ourselves, we might assume different roles at different times. It might be good to read this Gospel before hearing it on Sunday.
God is the “landowner,” who planted or created the vineyard, and Jesus is His Son. The vineyard is God’s chosen people, Israel. It has been entrusted to tenant caretakers, who prove to be untrustworthy rogues: conniving, cruel, violent and self-seeking. Like most parables we are part of the cast of characters and, if we’re honest with ourselves, we might assume different roles at different times. It might be good to read this Gospel before hearing it on Sunday. Remember, God us the “landowner” who planted or created the vineyard and Jesus is His son.
Where are we in this parable? Where have I ever been at another time? Do I have the courage to see myself in this story?
Shake Our Spirits Free
Jesus, who is Love Incarnate, understood human weaknesses toward self-righteousness, unfaithfulness, fear, desire for control, blindness to sin, injustice, cruelty and even violence. He used parables to hold a mirror to our hearts, open our eyes and ears and shake our spirits free of the “sour grapes” that have lived “rent free” in our hearts for years.
Perhaps it is a good exercise for me to write these reflections. I have been picturing myself as a young child and my own father playfully lifting me upside down by my feet or telling me to jump from a height of about three feet into his arms. Trust wasn’t there at first, but I know my pleas for “promise you’ll catch me” and “don’t drop me,” soon became, “do it again.”
God will be our safety as grace turns us upside-down, or maybe even inside-out on the path to being today’s disciples. Father Gillick suggests that “Jesus is inviting us to reverse the way we look at ourselves … to love Christ and His ways so much that being upside-down seems downside-up and holy.”
As we pray today’s opening prayer, let us pray for each other and our world. “Almighty and Eternal God … Your goodness is beyond what our spirit can touch and Your strength is more than our mind can bear. Lead us to seek beyond our reach and give us the courage to stand before Your truth.”
Readings for 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80: 9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
Philippians 4: 6-9
Matthew 21: 33-43
Sister Karen M. Cavanagh, C.S.J., a trained spiritual director and retreat facilitator, is a pastoral associate/family minister at St. Nicholas of Tolentine parish, Jamaica.
