Homily Twenty-seventh Sunday Year A Right response to God's blessings
Homily Twenty-seventh Sunday Year A
Reading 1: Two weeks ago, we heard in the First
Reading: “My thoughts are not your thoughts. My plans are not your plans.” The
prophet Isaiah specifies in this reading how this was true at the time in the
relationship between God and his chosen people, Israel. God gave Israel the land
of promise, provided for its needs, protected them from their enemies and
established a covenant with them.
What did the people, over time, do in turn? They broke
the covenant, but expected God to be faithful. They acted unjustly towards one
another, but expected God to show compassion and mercy to them. Instead of the
fruit of love, there was violence and bloodshed. Instead of a heart
relationship with God, there was merely lip service. They trusted in others
rather than God. Instead of a fruit of friendship and obedience, right
relationship and respect, they only produced the sour grapes of rebellion,
hardness of heart, double standards, trusting in political alliance rather than
the covenant.
What were the ultimate consequences of their actions? Their
enemies overcame them; they were exiled; they lost their inheritance promised
and given them.
What is our reality as a nation today? We began as a
nation under God. We recognized the Ten Commandments as the foundation of our
own laws. We sought what was right and good. Now, God is taken out of the public sector and
even attack in the private conscious of the individual. We too have double standards.
We are not guided by the law of God. Our laws are enacted in such a way that
they justify disrespect or they attack the individual’s rights to life, liberty
and happiness.
Gospel: The song of the vineyard of the first reading
is now applied by Jesus in the Parable of the vineyard in the Gospel. The
vineyard is the people of God from whom God is looking for a response to his
generous blessings post exile. Prophet after prophet had been sent, but the religious
leaders rejected each. God has finally sent his Son, Jesus, with the same
prophetic message: repentance and salvation. Jesus prophesied that they will
kill him, like they did to the prophets before him, including John the Baptist.
Then Jesus asked “What should God’s judgment against
this ungrateful people? They said that he will give the vineyard to others. And
Jesus said and so it will be done.
Jesus sought to open the hearts of the religious
leaders and the people to the message of God. They knew the truth but failed to
see themselves as the ones who continue to reject the message of God.
What is God saying to us? How do we apply this word in
our life today? Having received many blessings, what fruits are we bearing? If
we are not bearing fruit, what could be the consequences in our life?
Reading 2. This reading helps us to look once more at
our relationship with God against the background of those questions. There is
much anxiety and fear today in many of our lives. There is the fear of a
nuclear war. There is the anxiety of terrorists’ attacks and mass killings.
There is the political stalemate in Washington over the health care issue. And
so many others.
I can’t change what is happening outside of me and all
around me, anything outside of my sphere of control. What I can change is my
own thought focus.
What is Paul’s answer? Instead of anxiety, which
focuses on me, focus on God in everything by prayer and petition with
thanksgiving. In other words, turn back to the Lord. Look for his peace and his
ways. So that in the end not only will we have the peace of God but the God of
peace himself will be with us. Instead of anxiety, think about the positive
possibilities: what is true, honorable, just, pure, loving, etc. In seeking to
live a more virtuous life, our focus will change and the true peace of God will
fill us interiorly.
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