27^TH SUNDAY, YEAR A: REFLECTION BY FR JULIAN EKEH

THEME: DIVINE EXPECTATIONS VS HUMAN LIMITATIONS

(Matthew 21:33-43)

The Gospel Reading of today presents God as a householder who planted a vineyard and gave it all the necessary requirements to bloom and be fruitful.

We see a God who has given in what He should give to make man useful and productive. Just as every farmer expects to reap sweet produce from his farm, just as every father expects to enjoy the fruit of his labour, just as everyone expects profit from his work, so God comes in anticipation of being made glad by his creatures. What does he find?

The vine keeping demands creativity, time, patience, and effort. God, our creator, put in a lot of spiritual, physical, and passionate energy in the act of creating us. Something went out of him, really. He spent Himself in making man like Himself. He made Him a paradise, a garden, a vineyard, but chose Him as His special vineyard. This is interesting. Little wonder time and again, He never stops visiting to interact with Adam and Eve.

Sadly, when on that day He visited to see how Adam and Eve were doing and found them not bearing fruit but losing fruits having plucked the fruit of disobedience. It was not funny for God.

Just as man in Adam disappointed God and responded, "I am naked," in Cain, he disappointed and said: "Am I my brother's keeper?" Man in the brothers of Joseph betrayed him and sold him to slavery. Yet God formed them as a people in Egypt. From there, He uprooted them and planted them like a vine on his holy mountain. He was their protector and shepherd. In growing wild instead of docile to the vine owner, they severally were exiled. God continued sending them prophets as their vinedresser, but they enjoyed being wild.

In their wildness, they killed the different servants sent to care for them. Yet, God sent His son, saying, "They will obey my son." But him they also killed.

Is God wrong to expect good from us? Is He expecting too much? Oh no! He created us good and wants us to bear good fruits. But man chose evil over the good. He wants us to taste sweet, but a lot of things in us make us sour. He wants us to be life-giving, but we choose to be poisonous. The Lord created us to be lights, but we recreate ourselves to be darkness. He wants us to listen to Him just as He comes to listen to us. But we turn away from Him. In His love and tender mercy, He still picks us up to reinstate us. This is how much He loves us. 

As we wander, Jesus wonders: what have I not done for you? Why have you chosen to bear no fruit? Why are you straying away? Why do you want to remain adamant in your evil ways?

 

BE FRUITFUL

God wants you to be fruitful in your family. Be useful in your place of work. Be a good child of your parents. Be a good keeper of His commands. Take His word to heart. Bear fruits of holiness, peace, and charity.

Remove bitterness. Do you think you can't make it again? The word of God says you can. The Lord will not reject you. Do not withdraw your hands from what He offers you. Surprise those who think you have been lost. Surprise the devil who has made you believe that you can't rise again. Have you been rejected and seen as fruitless? The Lord is saying today that you will be a cornerstone. You will be like that stone that the builder rejected, which has become the cornerstone. May God bless His word in our hearts.

 

LET US PRAY

May the Lord be satisfied with us and satisfy us with His good things through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Happy Sunday (27th Sunday, Ordinary Time, Yr A)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

 27^th Sunday, Year A: Homily by Fr. Isaac Chima

Theme: A Call to Bear Good Fruits for God

Readings: Is 5:1–7; Phil 4:6–9; Mt 21:33–43

Dear friends, we live in a world where sidelining God and His will in the management of what He created has become common practice. Many people want to treat God’s creation according to their own desires rather than according to God’s purpose. This disregard affects both the human person and the natural environment. Our bodies, our gifts, our relationships, and the resources of the earth are often used without reference to the One who entrusted them to us. Greed, carelessness, and a growing insensitivity toward creation have become the order of the day.

In today’s liturgy, the Church reminds us that the God who created both humanity and nature has a purpose for everything He made. He has entrusted His creation to us, and He will demand an account of how we have cared for what He placed under our responsibility.

The similarity between the parable in the first reading from Isaiah and the parable Jesus tells in the Gospel is striking. Both beautifully describe how the owners of the vineyards invested great effort and care in preparing their farms. Isaiah tells us that the vineyard was planted on fertile land; the owner dug it, cleared it of stones, planted the choicest vines, built a watchtower, and hewed out a wine vat. In the Gospel, Jesus describes a householder who planted a vineyard, set a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a watchtower before leasing it to tenants.

With such careful preparation, no one would expect anything less than a rich harvest. Naturally, when we invest heavily in a project, we hope for a result that corresponds to our effort. It was therefore heartbreaking that, at harvest time, both vineyard owners received the opposite of what they had laboured for. In Isaiah’s parable, the vineyard produced sour grapes. In Jesus’ parable, the landowner received insults, violence, and the killing of his servants and even his son, instead of the fruits of the vineyard.

Both masters were deeply disappointed by what they received in return for their investment. Their reaction was understandable: they took drastic action against the vineyard and, in Jesus’ parable, against the tenants who betrayed their trust.

Prophet Isaiah tells us that the vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel. Indeed, God invested so much in forming and sustaining Israel as His chosen people. To raise Israel as a nation, God acted powerfully on their behalf: He humbled mighty nations, opened paths where none existed, and secured a homeland for them. We recall the plagues that struck Egypt to set Israel free (Exodus 8–14), and the displacement of nations that opposed Israel during their journey—the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8), the Canaanites (Josh. 1), Jericho (Josh. 6), Ai, the Amorites, Jabin, the Jebusites, and the many kings listed in Joshua 12.

With such immense investment, God expected fruits of loyalty, obedience, love, peace, justice, and true worship from Israel. But instead, Israel produced fruits that dishonoured His name. Isaiah laments: “He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry.” The same disappointment appears in Jesus’ parable: instead of giving the landowner the fruits of the vineyard, the tenants killed his servants and even his son. What a grave betrayal.

In the same way, dear friends, God has invested so much in each of us. He has endowed us with dignity, gifts, abilities, and unique beauty—physical, spiritual, and intellectual. Everything we are is a grace. But every grace carries responsibility.

To our dear women and men, young and old: God has blessed you with gifts that others may not have—strength, intelligence, creativity, charm, health, opportunities, and talents. These gifts are not for vanity, pride, or sin. They are meant to bear fruits that glorify God.

So, we must ask ourselves these questions: What fruits am I producing with the gifts God has given me? Do my choices honour the One who created me? Do my actions lead others toward God or away from Him?

For some, the temptation may be to misuse physical attractiveness or personal charm in ways that lead others into sin. For others, the temptation may be to misuse strength, intelligence, or influence for violence, cultism, fraud, or other social vices. Still others may misuse opportunities, wealth, or education in ways that harm rather than heal.

But the truth remains that to whom much is given, much will be required. God has invested so much in making you who you are. He expects fruits that correspond to His generosity. If we fail to give Him the fruits He deserves, we risk becoming like the vineyard that produced sour grapes or the tenants who betrayed their master.

Let us therefore examine our lives and return to God with hearts ready to bear good fruits—fruits of justice, purity, compassion, integrity, and true worship.

Furthermore, in the Gospel reading, Jesus says, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Dear friends, whenever we depart from the will of God in the way we handle the gifts He has given us, we cast out the cornerstone—the stone that holds our house firm—from our lives. Without God at the centre, it becomes difficult for our house to withstand the storms of life. God is the stronghold of our existence. When we reject His will and His vision in the way we treat our bodies, our relationships, and our environment, failure becomes inevitable.

Therefore, let us stop harming our bodies; let us stop misusing the resources of the world; let us instead dedicate ourselves to discovering—or rediscovering—the will of our Creator and following it faithfully in all we do.

Today’s Gospel also reminds us that we are merely guardians of everything we possess. Just as the tenants were placed in charge of the vineyard by the landowner, God has placed us in charge of the resources of the world, our talents, our opportunities, and even our physical and spiritual gifts. The true owner of all we claim as ours is God.

Just as the landowner in Jesus’ parable sent his servants and finally his son to remind the tenants to render an account, God sent many prophets—and ultimately His Son—to the house of Israel to call them to repentance. We know how they responded. In our own time, God continues to send His priests to remind us that we must give an account of everything placed under our care.

Let us not mistake God’s patience for weakness. Israel made that mistake, and they paid dearly in 721/722 BC and again in 587 BC. Let us learn from their history. Let us begin preparing our account book today, because tomorrow may be too late.

Peace be with you.

Rev. Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima