The Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023)
“What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
They answered Jesus,
"He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times."
—Matthew 21:40-41
As the end of the Church Year approaches (the Solemnity of Christ the King is only 7 weeks away!), the readings proclaimed on the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time highlight themes that we often associate with the end of life, including the theme of judgment.
One of the basic tenants of the Christian Faith is that, at the end of our lives—and at the end of time—each of us will stand before God, who is both merciful and just (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1020-1022 and 1038-1050). In these days, the growing darkness of autumn and the falling of leaves remind us that the end is never really far away, this becomes an opportunity to reflect on our mortality, but also on the promise of new and eternal life that God offers us in Christ.
This Sunday’s Gospel—the “Parable of the Tenants”—picks up this theme of judgment and continues a conversation that was begun last Sunday’s Gospel of the “Parable of the Two Sons.” In this Sunday’s passage, however, Jesus builds directly on imagery used by the Prophet Isaiah (see the First Reading) by describing a vineyard that was been leased to tenants who had been entrusted with the task of producing a rich harvest for the vineyard’s owner. In this parable, however, the tenants have claimed the vineyard as their own and, when the owner sends his stewards to collect the harvest, the tenants kill them. In response, the owner sends his own son and heir. Seeing their chance to make a final claim of ownership the vineyard, the tenants also kill the son.
“The Son of the Vineyard” (Le fils de la vigne) by James Tissot (1886-1894)
After telling his story, Jesus asks the religious leaders (to whom he had addressed the parable) what the owner of the vineyard will do. They give a hard answer: “He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper time.”
Did they know they were condemning themselves?
We don’t know, but Jesus does agree with their verdict: “The Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”
Here, judgment is made against those religious leaders who had forgotten that their mission was to tend God’s vineyard by serving the people and helping to lead them to God. By focusing on their own priorities and power, they had turned the God’s vineyard into their own little kingdom where they believed they reigned supreme.
This parable certainly has a lesson to offer anyone who holds a position of authority within the Church, but the lesson applies to all the Church’s ministers, clergy and laity alike. Our call is nothing more than to serve and to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of those entrusted to our care. When we begin focusing too much on our status or agenda, on our priorities or politics, we risk losing sight of the true purpose of our ministry and of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
As Pope Francis reminded us in Evangelii Gaudium,
“Pastoral workers can [fall] into a relativism which, whatever their particular style of spirituality or way of thinking, proves even more dangers than doctrinal relativism… This practical relativism consists in acting as if God did not exist, making decisions as if the poor did not exist, setting goals as if others did not exist, working as if people who have not received the Gospel did not exist. It is striking, that even some who clearly have solid doctrinal or spiritual convictions frequently fall into a lifestyle which leads to an attachment to financial security, or to a desire for power or human glory at all cost, rather than giving their lives to others in mission. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary enthusiasm!” (80).
The coming weeks offer us opportunities to celebrate the memorials and commemorations of a number of saints, including those of three popes: Saint John XXIII on October 11, Saint Callistus I on October 14, and Saint John Paul II on October 22. While each of these saints has his critics, each also embodied aspects of that spirit of self-sacrifice that is demanded of pastors and pastoral leaders in the Church. And so, as we enter into the final weeks of the Church Year, take time to reflect on the quality of your own ministry and service and to pray for the Church’s leaders, including Pope Francis and all those taking part in the Synod on Synodality.
Almighty ever-living God,
who in the abundance of your kindness
surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you,
pour out your mercy upon us
to pardon what conscience dreads
and to give what prayer does not dare to ask.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
