Friends,
just before his Passion and death, Jesus tells this striking story of
the landowner who planted a vineyard. The fertile vineyard stands for
Israel, his chosen people. But it could be broadened out to include the
world. What do we learn from this beautiful image? That God has made for
his people a place where they can find rest, enjoyment, good work.
We—Israel,
the Church, the world—are not the owners of this vineyard; we are
tenants. One of the most fundamental spiritual mistakes we can make is
to think that we own the world. We are tenants, entrusted with the
responsibility of caring for it, but everything that we have and are is
on loan. Our lives are not about us.
Christ
is God’s judgment. We are all under his judgment. In the measure that
we reject him or refuse to listen to him, we place our tenancy in
jeopardy. And so the great question that arises from this reading: How
am I using the gifts that
God gave me for God’s purposes? My money? My time? My talents? My
creativity? My relationships? All is for God, and thus all is under
God’s judgment.
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