October 4, 2020
Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, is the cornerstone discarded by architects,
the cornerstone of our lives and our faith.
Readings
First Reading
Reading the book of Isaiah 5, 1-7
I will sing to my friend the singing of my beloved by his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He trained it, removed the stones and planted good strains; built a tower in the middle and dug a lizard. I was hoping he’d give grapes, but he gave a lot of reasons.
Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem, men of Judah, please be judges between me and my vineyard. What else could I do for my vineyard that I hadn’t done? Why, when I waited for him to give grapes, did he give agrazones?
Well, I let you know what I will do with my vineyard: remove your fence and serve as firewood, melt your wall and be trampled. I will turn it into an erial: they will not prune it or weed it, there will grow bramble and thistles, I will forbid the clouds to rain upon it.
The Lord’s vineyard of the universe is the house of Israel and the men of Judah their favorite campus. I expected from them right, and there they have: blood shed; I expected justice, and there you have: regrets.
Psalm
Exit 79, 9 and 12. 13-14. 15-16. 19-20
The Lord’s Vineyard Is the House of Israel
You took a vine out of Egypt, expelled the Gentiles, and transplanted it.
He extended his sarmientos to the sea, and his shoots to the Great River. R/.
Why did you knock down her fence to be looted by passers-by,
She’s trampled on by the boars and ate by the vermin? R/.
God of the universe, turn around: look from heaven, look, come visit your vineyard.
Take care of the strain your right hand planted and the son of the man you’ve strengthened. R/.
We will not turn away from you: give us life, so that we may invoke your name.
Lord, God of the universe, restore us, let your face shine and save us. R/.
Second Reading
Reading the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Philippians 4, 6-9
Brothers:
Nothing worries them; but, on all occasions, in prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, your requests are presented to God.
And the peace of God, which overcomes all judgment, will guard your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, all that is true, noble, just, pure, kind, laudable, all that is virtue or merit, take this into account.
What they learned, received, heard, saw in me, put it for work.
And the God of peace will be with you.
Gospel
Reading the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 21, 33-43
At that time, Jesus said to the high priests and elders of the people:
“Listen to another parable: “There was an owner who planted a vineyard, surrounded it with a fence, dug a lizard in it, built a tower, leased it to some labradors, and went away. At the time of the fruits, he sent his servants to the labradors to perceive the fruits that corresponded to him. But the labradors, grabbing the servants, beat each other, killed each other, and stoned him.
He sent back other servants, more than the first time, and they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son saying, ‘You’ll have respect for my son.’
But the labradors, seeing the son, said, ‘This is the heir: come on, we kill him and we keep his inheritance.’
And grabbing him, they took him out of the vineyard and killed him.” When the vineyard owner returns, what will he do with those labradors?”
They reply:
“He will make these wicked men die of bad death and lease the vineyard to other labradors who bear the fruits of their time.”
And Jesus says to them:
“They have never read in Scripture:
“The stone thrown away by the architects
is now the cornerstone.
It is the Lord who has done it,
it’s been a clear miracle.”
That is why I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who bear fruit.”
Comment
Again the image of the vineyard is present in today’s Word even more strongly than on other occasions. And what or who is the vineyard? We have immediately heard an answer: the Lord’s vineyard is the house of Israel, that is, the chosen people of God with whom Yahweh God established his Covenant. A people and a house that, with the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, which was anticipated in his Last Supper as a sacrifice of the New Covenant, has expanded to all mankind.
Thus, the Lord’s vineyard is the whole world, all nations, all peoples, the nature around us, the universe that surrounds us, the human society in which we are integrated, the family in which we were born and lived; the Lord’s vineyard is each of us, to whom God our Creator has given us a life full of expectations and illusions.
The prophet Isaiah wonderfully describes, through the song of the beloved by his vineyard, how God loves us, how the Lord treats humanity, how He cares for us, gives us life every day, preserves it, accompanies us, adorns us with qualities and abilities, frees us from dangers, protects us from fruit. God is always faithful to His promise and, patiently, continues to expect fruits of life from us.
But we so often bear no fruits of life but of death, we do not good but evil, we are not fruitful but sterile; we do not work for peace, but we face each other violently; we do not strive to improve situations but we sink into lament and in insidia. What are we doing with the nature and creation God has given us? Where is this humanity steeped in pride and arrogance headed? What do we do for the poor, helpless brother? How do we occupy the time God gives us each day? It is not God who will destroy us. we are the ones who are destroying ourselves inexorably.
In the Gospel Jesus offers us a parable in which this same drama is breathed. God as the owner of the vineyard, patiently, sends first one, then to others, and finally to his own Son, to gather some fruit. But the vineyards, instead of considering the being tenants or depositaries, self-proclaim the owners of the vineyard, usurping what is not theirs. And they do so violently, to the point of killing all the Lord’s envoys, even their own Son.
It is the drama of man of today and always, who wants to kill God to keep the inheritance, to falsely proclaim himself the owner of life and the world, dominating everything through the power of money, weapons or technique. Already some philosopher dared to proclaim the death of God to shout: Long live the superman! It is the drama of the one who aborts arguing to own his own body, of those who use violence against women or the weakest believing to be their owner, of those who exploit their workers by unfairly appropriating their efforts and sacrifice, of whom he intends to exterminate by euthanasia the elderly or sick because they no longer produce, of whom he appropriates the freedom of others by preventing his education as free men and women in thinking and acting. It is the drama of the culture of death that aims to annihilate any sign of life.
In a film about Jesus Christ from a few years ago, the screenwriter allowed himself the license to introduce a fictional character with a phrase that struck me greatly. At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion and death, when He from the cross shouts, “Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing,” the character said quietly, “We know well what we do, we are killing God.”
In today’s parable Jesus identifies himself as the Son of God, the Son of the eternal Father, owner of life and the world, Lord of history and creator of all and of all. It is Jesus himself whom Pilate will command to crucify and kill on the cross, the same one whom he had presented shortly before to the multitude with that defining phrase: Ecce homo… behold Man, the model of every human being, the perfect new man.
So, killing God, we kill Man too. Without God, we are not only orphaned by Father but also without Brother and without brothers. Killing God dies fraternity, we cease to be brothers and we begin to be adversaries and enemies. Killing God, nature will die, creation will die, humanity will die.
Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, discarded by so many wise and understood, reproached by man today, atheist, agnostic, indolent, apathetic, or indifferent; it is the cornerstone on which God the Father has wanted to rebuild his entire project of broken love for sin. And it remains for each of us Christians, their disciples, the hope of salvation, The One who overcomes death has become a giver of new life for all of us who believe in Him. In Him, God takes nothing away from us, but gives us everything. We may lose faith in Him, but He does not lose it in us; continues to believe in each one and waiting for our delivery response, our fruits of love.
Jesus Christ is our peace. Although everything may seem cloudy and dark around us, He does not turn away from us but quite the opposite. He sustains and encourages us. With St Paul we can say: “I can do everything in him who comforts me”. The Apostle himself tells us today: “Nothing worries you; but, on all occasions, in prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, your requests are presented to God. And the peace of God, which overcomes all judgment, will guard your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus.”
Prayer
Jesus, Son of the living God, may your face shine and save us.
You are the beloved Son of the Father, begat not created in the eternity of God.
You are the Son of God made man in Mary’s virginal bowels.
You are the one born in a stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem in the astonishment of Joseph and Mary.
You are the one found by the shepherds and sung by the angels of heaven.
Jesus, Son of the living God, may your face shine and save us.
You are the one worshipped by the Wizards of the East whose gifts (gold, incense, and myrrh) announced your royalty, your divinity, and your sacrifice on the cross.
You are the one presented in the Temple as the Firstborn of all creation and rescued with a pair of lovebirds, because your family was poor.
You are the flight to Egypt to escape the superb ambition of human power.
You are the return to your land under the silence of the stars.
Jesus, Son of the living God, may your face shine and save us.
You are the lost and found child in the Temple because you had to fulfill the will of the Father of heaven, engaged in his things, by giving lessons to the teachers of Israel.
You are the apprentice carpenter in Nazareth behind your beloved Joseph.
You are the one who every day pampered your Mother Mary with so much love.
You are the one who silently spent your hours and days waiting for the Hour and day that the Father had pointed out to you.
Jesus, Son of the living God, may your face shine and save us.
You are the prayer pilgrim in the wilderness tempted by Satan.
You are the one who went through one of many and was baptized by John in Jordan.
You are the Master who called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be fishermen of men, and you keep calling so many to leave their lives for you.
You are the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, who always has words of eternal life.
Jesus, Son of the living God, may your face shine and save us.
You are the Son of the man who spent doing good and healing the oppressed by evil, healing broken hearts, restoring shattered lives.
You are the one who called blessed the poor, hungry, thirsty, sad and heartbroken, the meek, merciful and clean in heart, the persecuted and slandered, and those who work for peace.
You are the one who invited to give up everything and carry the cross to be your disciple.
You are the transfigured, the beloved Son of the Father, eternal Word to be heard.
Jesus, Son of the living God, may your face shine and save us.
You are the Servant of Yahweh, delivered and sacrificed as a lamb to take away the sins of the world, who knelt down to wash his disciples’ feet.
You are the living Bread lowered from heaven and Came from the New Covenant, which you give us your Body and your Blood in the sacrifice of the altar.
You are the Friend who, having loved his own, loved them to the extreme.
You’re the wrongly convicted man who was counted as a wrongdoer.
Jesus, Son of the living God, may your face shine and save us.
You are the Crucified One who, dying on the Cross, shouted, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
You are the Son of Mary, who gave it to us as Mother at the last moment.
You are the one buried in the bowels of the earth that You yourself created.
You are the Risen One, who overcame sin and death, and appeared to the disciples to reaffirm them in faith and send them to the whole world to proclaim the gospel.
You are the Son of the Father who has promised us, “I will be with you always.”
Jesus, Son of the living God, may your face shine and save us. Amen.
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