Big Sugar Buddha: A Homily - The Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Sunday, October 8, 2023

A Homily - The Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

First Reading – Isaiah 5:1-7 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 79(80):9, 12-16, 19-20 ©

Second Reading – Philippians 4:6-9 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 15:15

Alternative Acclamation – John 15:16

The Gospel According to Matthew 21:33 - 43 ©

(NJB)

Listen!

God, the creator of the universe, God does not directly intervene in the affairs of human beings, but nevertheless, there is an intention behind the act of creation, there is purpose and meaning; God is pulling all of us toward God’s desired end.

God wills that we be good and just, loving and kind, humble and merciful, that we be accepting of one another, even with all of our faults, and yet, even though this is what God wills, God does not create us with these qualities fully matured, they exist within us like a seed in germ; it is od’s will that we develop these qualities naturally, throughout the course of our lives.

Be mindful.

The prophet likens humanity to a vineyard:

In one generation a vineyard will produce beautiful fruit, in another generation it will be sour.

A single vine in the vineyard will produce fruit of mixed quality, some branches will dry up and wither, while others go on to produce a wonderful bounty.

In one year a vineyard will go to rot, in another it will be restored.

Briar patches and thorns may impede the vine in one season, while at the same time returning vitality to the soil.

This is the way of things in a vineyard, just as it is the way of all human institutions, it is the way of civilization, and the Church is not excepted from this rule.

When you read the psalms you must understand how the psalmist misunderstands, and therefore misconstrues, the way in which historical events unfold, especially in relation to the will of God.

Know this!

God did not rescue the Israelites from Egypt. God did not send the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Ptolemy’s, or the Romans. God did not destroy the temples; neither will God will not protect you or punish you, or show you any favor in this world no matter how fervently you pray for it.

God is the shepherd of all people, not only of Israel, and not only of Christians.

Be mindful.

God does not reside on a throne, God is not a general who comes at the head of an army. When we imagine God thusly, we do a disservice to the divine.

God’s face shines on everyone, look for it in the face of your neighbor, in the face of your enemy, in the faces of those who persecute you. See God there, and let the image of God change your relationship with all people.

It is up to us, God’s children, to love to show mercy, and to care for those who are downtrodden.

It is the desire of God that all people be well and happy. To further this end God desires that we be tolerant of one another, that we care for one another, that we seek the happiness of our neighbors with a spirit of charity.

It is precisely there that we will come to the peace of God; we will find it in the work of a servant.

Meditate on what is true, truth that is rooted in love.

Commit yourself to what is good, know it by the fruit that goodness bears, see it in the benefit which the whole community derives from it.

Be mindful of those who seek honors, speak of virtue and love praise; we are easily deceived by them, and easily deceived for them.

Know this!

The greatest commandment is to love, and to love is the whole of the law.

To love one another, to give of one’s self to another in love, there is no greater gift.

The mode of loving that we are called to, is not the mode of love we call desire, though to desire and be desired is an experience of great joy. We are called to move past desire and to move past the scope of love we have for family and friends, because to love those nearest to us is only a short extension of the love we have for ourselves. To love one’s family and friends is an easy way of loving because we see ourselves in the faces of our mothers and fathers, and our sisters and brothers, we see our ambitions as being tied to the ambitions of our friends and allies. It is good to love in this capacity but we are called to love in a greater capacity than this. We are called to love to the point of selflessness, to love even those who are against us, to love our enemies, to forgive those who have hurt us and have done us harm, we are called to feed the stranger and protect them…and to do so with a loving heart.

This is the great commandment.

Consider the Gospel for today, it is a piece of pure propaganda, written in the mode of an apology.

The reading for today is an attempt by the authors of Matthew’s Gospel, written in the first generation after the Roman conquest of Palestine and the destruction of the Temple, to explain to a largely Jewish audience the divine purpose behind those events.

While Matthew’s community was predominately Jewish, there were gentile converts among them.

The warning to the readership is this:

If you do not give up your insistence on retaining your distinctively Jewish traditions, you will be destroyed, and the gentiles among you will take your place as heirs to the promises that God made to your ancestors.

The narrative is one that the writers of Matthew borrowed from the early prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, whose books were also written in the apologetic mode, in order to explain the destruction of Israel by the Assyrians, and then the destruction of Judea by the Babylonians, followed by the invasion of the Holy Land by Antiochus Epiphanes.

The basic move that all of these prophets (or those writing in their name) make is to explain current events through the lens of past events. In this case they are putting a prophecy in Jesus’ mouth to explain the Roman invasion of Palestine and the destruction of the temple, along with the ongoing persecution of the Jewish people.

The lesson they intended to impart was this:

Everything unfolds according to God’s plan. If you resist God’s plan you will be destroyed and all of your hopes will be dashed. They were pushing the message that these catastrophe’s have happened before and they happen again.

They wanted to hammer home the idea that all good things come from God. Nothing you have belongs to you and can be taken away in the blink of an eye, if and when God determines to punish you for your lack of faith.

First Reading – Isaiah 5:1-7 ©

Against the Lord’s Vineyard

Let me sing to my friend the song of his love for his vineyard.

My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.

He dug the soil, cleared it of stones and planted choice vines in it.

In the middle he built a tower, he dug a press there too.

He expected it to yield grapes, but sour grapes were all that it gave.

And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I ask you to judge between my vineyard and me.

What could I have done for my vineyard that I have not done?

I expected it to yield grapes.

Why did it yield sour grapes instead?

Very well, I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge for it to be grazed on, and knock down its wall for it to be trampled on.

I will lay it waste, unpruned, undug; overgrown by the briar and the thorn.

I will command the clouds to rain no rain on it.

Yes, the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel, and the men of Judah that chosen plant.

He expected justice, but found bloodshed, integrity, but only a cry of distress.

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 79(80):9, 12-16, 19-20 ©