Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Parents here will recognize the time-honored teaching technique of repeating something in a variety of different ways with the same message. If repeated enough, it can finally be understood. And that is what we have heard from Jesus over the past few weeks. Two weeks ago we heard the parable of the vineyard. Those who came first were upset at those who came later, and yet were given the same payment. Last weekend we heard the parable about the two sons. The first was disobedient in words but obedient in actions. The second was obedient in words but disobedient in actions. This week we hear another vineyard parable, except this time, we hear about tenants who are supposed to care for the vineyard, but when the landowner sends servants to obtain the produce, they harass and kill them. Finally, the landowner sends his son, but the tenants kill him, thinking that they will get his inheritance.
These parables are probably being told towards the end of Jesus’ ministry before the crucifixion. Two weeks ago the Gospel was from the beginning of Matthew, chapter 20. Last week’s Gospel was Matthew, chapter 21, verses 28-32. This week’s Gospel is Matthew, chapter 21, verses 33-43. I say this because the beginning of Matthew, chapter 21 is the entry into Jerusalem that we celebrate each Palm Sunday.
And the point Jesus is making in all three of these Gospels has to do with the attitude of the Chosen People, and specifically the religious leaders like the Pharisees, scribes, chief priests, and Sadducees, to the proclamation of the Gospel, the Good News, by Jesus. In the first parable, Jesus compares the attitude of the members of the Chosen People who are not rejoicing that sinners and Gentiles (non-Jews) are hearing God’s word and changing their lives to those who went to work early in the day, but then were upset when those who came later and especially those who came at the last minute got paid the same. In the second parable, Jesus compares the sinners and Gentiles who, at first, reject God’s command, but eventually do it, and compares certain members of the Chosen People to the second son who says he’ll follow God’s command, but then doesn’t follow through and actually do it. And in this parable that we heard today, certain members of the Chosen People are the tenants. The servants are the prophets whom God sent to teach the Chosen People how to live. The son is Jesus. And the religious leaders do the same thing as the tenants: they kill both the servants and the son. In all of these parables, Jesus is telling some of those who were listening that they were on the wrong path, and needed to convert and accept the Gospel. And especially the religious leaders who heard this got angrier and angrier because they knew Jesus was talking about them (which is why the continued to conspire to put Jesus to death).
So what does this have to do with us? I would say that Catholics, in particular, can struggle in the same ways as those to whom Jesus was addressing His parables. So often, especially in these days, Catholics have the mentality that, as long as we’re baptized and we’re not Hitler or Stalin, then we’re good; we’re on the right path. But Jesus is telling us that, while baptism is important as the ordinary means of salvation and the way Jesus taught us to come into communion with God, it’s not like if we have our baptism card then we’re all set. We are constantly called to deeper and deeper conversion, to deepen our love for and our understanding of God. Each day there are parts of our lives that need to change to be more like Jesus; we’re never done. Baptism can easily become for us like circumcision was for some of the the Jews at that time: as long as I’ve gone through it then I don’t need to worry about anything. And that’s simply not how a relationship with God works. If we truly love God, we try each day to be a better friend of God, not resting on our laurels of previously having a good day or week with God, or even simply on the fact that we’ve had our Catholic card punched.
The other struggle we can have is based upon how we view welcoming others into the Catholic faith. Sometimes we can feel like a person needs to have it all together before they can be invited to church. Certainly, entrance into the Catholic Church requires that daily conversion about which I just spoke. But Jesus didn’t tells sinners that they needed to be a saint before they could start following Him. He called them to follow so that they could become a saint. Now, to be sure, becoming a saint means configuring our life to Christ and starting certain actions and leaving other actions behind. Jesus never pretended that a person’s sins didn’t matter. But he didn’t let their sins stop the conversation about moving in the right direction. The woman caught in adultery in John’s Gospel is a perfect example: Jesus doesn’t condemn the woman for her adultery. But after not condemning her, He tells her to go and sin no more.
This is not to say that we can approach everything that Jesus offers no matter what. If our lives are not right in major ways, we should not approach the Eucharist. If we are in an irregular marriage; if we support (by words or deeds) abortion and/or euthanasia; if we have stolen something of significant value, then approaching Jesus in the Eucharist as if none of that makes a difference is not the way Jesus wants us to do things. But, on the other hand, it also doesn’t mean that Jesus doesn’t want us to see us again our interact with us again until we get our lives right by our own strength. We can’t do it on our own strength. We need Jesus to convert our hearts, and therefore our lives, so that we can, once more, have communion with Jesus in the Eucharist.
Today Jesus invites us not to set up more barriers to interacting with Jesus than He does. He calls us each not to treat baptism as a “get out of hell free” card. He calls each of us–me and you–to deeper conversion each day, to pattern our life more on Jesus each day, so that we can turn away from sin, and be faithful to the Gospel.
