Repentance and conversion will bear abundance!

WORD OF FAITH: A breakdown of each week's upcoming Sunday readings to better understand the Word of God at Mass.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” — Philippians 4:6

 
Throughout all of history, there have been tenant farmers, from the biblical period such as we hear in Matthew 21:33-43, to the feudal period when the “Lord of the Castle” would rent out his lands to tenant farmers. Throughout the history of tenant farming, even up to today, a certain portion of the yield of the crops would be handed over to the landowner. We have heard over the past two weeks and now this Sunday from the vineyard parables, each stress the need for repentance and conversion for the production of an abundant harvest. The tenant is asked to cooperate with the landowner so that the vineyard may yield a fruitful harvest. We are the tenants and God is the landowner and the question the parable this Sunday asks us to consider is: are we willing to be partners with God in yielding a fruitful harvest from the vineyard? What must we do? Jesus tells us what we need to do: repent and seek conversion.

The First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah says beautifully the importance of repentance and conversion (reversion). The passage speaks of the sadness God must feel when we turn away from our creator who has taken such great care to cultivate faith in each of us. “Let me now sing of my friend, my friend’s song concerning his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside; he spaded it, cleared it of stones and planted the choicest vines; within it he built a watch tower, hewed out a wine press. Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes.” (Isaiah 5:1-7) The vineyard is Israel, and the wild crops are the people and Isaiah’s friend, you guessed it, God! We too are that vineyard that God has planted. God has taken great care to plant a vineyard and we must take great care to cultivate those tender vines so that they will yield an abundant crop. For us to cultivate those tender vines, we need the nourishment that can only come from the grace that we receive in the sacraments, such as the grace that flows from the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Israel did not care for her tender vines, and they wilted and died. This passage from Isaiah tells how the people of Israel will lose their land because they did not care for their souls. We also must recognize as the Church we have the responsibility for the care of souls. Those souls are the tender vines of our children and future generations.

Psalm 80:15-16 calls on the help of the Lord to protect this tender vine, “Once again, O Lord of Hosts, look down from heaven, and see; take care of this vine and protect what your right hand has planted. The son of man whom you yourself made strong.” This vine was transplanted from Egypt; God took such great care to see that it survived in the desert so that it could reach the promised land. How could Israel just let it die? How can we let ourselves die on the vine because we allow pride or indifference to not allow us to admit our wrongdoing and take responsibility for our actions or our inaction?

God, however, never gives up on saving the vine from dying and we again see this in yet another parable that Jesus offers to the chief priests and elders of the people. He tells them that they are the tenants whom the landowner (God) has leased his vineyard. From time to time, he would send servants to inspect the vineyard to see if the tenants were caring for the tender vines. The servants are the prophets who themselves, like the servants in the parable, are rejected and even killed. “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.” (Matthew 21:33-43) Did the chief priests and elders see themselves as the wretched tenants? They must have, otherwise why were they so against Jesus and his message? They did not want their power and privilege threatened and to secure their position, they did not take responsibility for misleading the people and, because they could not admit their own wrongdoing, they withered on the vine and died. What do we glean from this for ourselves today?

In the Second Reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, he encourages them and us to repent and seek conversion (reversion) for the good of our souls. “Brothers and Sisters: Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” (Philippians 4:6-9) The greatest request we can make to God is the request to be forgiven, it all begins with admitting our wrongdoing and then watching for the bearing forth of an abundant vineyard. The bearing forth of this abundant fruitful vineyard begins with one simple action, repenting and seeking conversion (reversion).