03

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time —Year A

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

 甘天霖神父                   

Gospel: Matthew 21:33-43 

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew,

Glory to you, O Lord!

"Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.'

But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.' They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?" They answered him, "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." Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes'? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.“

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily：Do Not Pretend to be the Masters of the Lord’s Vineyard

Just as Isaiah, Jesus also uses the image of the vineyard. A master plants a vineyard with a hedge around it, digs a mill there, builds a tower, entrusts it to tenants, and goes.

When the time of harvest arrives, he sends his servants to collect the produce. But here's the surprise: the farmers do not want to deliver the benefits. They mistreat and kill the envoys. As a final attempt he sends his son, but they kill him too. They are convinced of being able to be masters of the field that has been entrusted to them。

All the details of the gospel story have a symbolic meaning. The master is the Lord. He lavishes so much care and expresses an immense love for his people. The hedge is the Torah, the law that God has revealed to his people to protect it from enemies, that is, from the proposals of thoughtless life that would lead to ruin. The tenants are the chiefs, religious and political leaders, whose task is to place the people in ideal conditions to produce the fruits that the owner expects. The owner expects works of love of neighbor and social justice as the fruits. 

The envoys are the prophets who warn Israel to be faithful to the covenant. God expresses himself by the mouth of Jeremiah, "From the time I brought their forebears out of Egypt until this day I have continually sent them my servants, the prophets, but this stiff-necked people did not listen. They paid no attention and were worse than their forebears” (Jer 7:25-26). The tenants wanted to take possession of the field, claimed to manage the “vineyard” by themselves. They represent those who want to do things without God and consider his gifts as goods to be misappropriated.

The son is Jesus. The time of harvest is the time of God's judgment, the day of intervention for salvation. At the end of the parable, Jesus involves his audience and asks their opinion on what behavior to suggest to the owner. They convincingly respond, "The master will bring those evil men to an evil end.”

But Jesus follows a different logic. God intervenes to make evil serve the good, making it yield a masterpiece of salvation. You may remember what Joseph said to his brothers who had sold him to the Egyptians, "You intended to do me harm, but God intended to turn it to good to bring about what is happening today—the survival of many people” (Gen 50:20).

The leaders of the people take the son and throw him out of the vineyard. This is what happened to Jesus. He was deemed a blasphemer, impure and for this he was brought out of the city walls and executed. But God, in raising him, glorified him and made him Lord, the cornerstone of a new building.

The end result of the intervention of the master is the delivery of the vineyard to other workers who will make it produce fruits. This is his gesture of love and salvation. Today, every Christian is a vine grower from which the Lord expects delivery of the fruits.

证道：莫自欺欺人，葡萄园主人是上主！

耶稣与依撒依亚一样用了葡萄园的比喻。家主种植了葡萄园，围上了篱笆，掘了一个榨酒池，筑了一个守望台，并把它租给园户，就离开了。

当收获季节到的时候，他打发自己的仆人收集果子。不过，这里令人惊讶的是：农场主并没有想要交给园户好处。仆人被虐待，特使被杀害。作为最后的尝试，他打发了自己的儿子，但是他也被他们所杀害了。园户坚信自己能够成为这块已经委托给他们的土地的主人。

福音故事的所有细节有一个象征的意义。家主就是上主。祂给予自己的子民太多的关心，也表达了无限的爱。篱笆是托拉——天主为从敌人手中护佑他们而启示的法律，也就是远离那些自私生活的建议，因为它会让人身败名裂。园户们是首领、宗教和政治的领导人，他们的任务是把人们置于最佳的环境中，好能结出家主所期待的果实。家主期望的是邻里相爱和社会正义来作为工作的果实。

 特使就是那些警告以色列人要忠于盟约的先知们。天主借着耶肋米亚的口表达自己，说：“从你们祖先出离埃及那一天起，直到今日，我给你们派遣了我所有的仆人先知，而且每天清早给你们派遣，但他们不但不侧耳听从我，反更硬起自己的颈项，比自己的祖先还要乖戾”（耶7:25-26）。园户们想要占有土地，宣称他们自己拥有这“葡萄园”。他们代表那些想要不靠天主来做事，并把天主的恩赐视为可以侵占挪用物品的人。

家主的儿子就是耶稣。收获的时期就是天主审判的时候、救恩干预的那一天。比喻的最后，耶稣让祂的听众参与进来，并询问他们关于向家主建议回应方式的想法。他们确定无疑地回应说：“要凶恶地消灭那些凶恶的人”。

不过，耶稣遵循的是一个不同的道理。天主的干预能让邪恶为善服务，使它产生救赎的极好例证。你们可能还记得，古圣若瑟曾对那些把他卖到埃及的兄弟们说过：“你们原有意对我作的恶事，天主却有意使之变成好事，造成了今日的结果：挽救了许多人民的性命”（创50:20）。

人们的首领拿住家主的儿子，把他扔到了葡萄园外。这是耶稣身上发生的事情。祂被视为一个亵渎者、不洁的人，为此而被带出城墙之外处决了。不过，天主使祂复活了，光荣了祂，使祂成为主，一座新建筑的基石。
家主干预的最终结果是葡萄园被租给了按时缴纳出产的园户。这是天主爱和救赎的姿态。今天，每位基督徒都是葡萄树的种植者，上主期望从他们获得果子。

文本来源：雅颂福传

译者：天心神父