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1. Is 5:1-7
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2. Phil 4:6-9
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Gospel: Mt
21:33-43
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" Giving God His Due"
Two brothers in chicken
garden after they had collected a lot of eggs, the elder brother said to his
young brother, " I will give you one dollar if you let me break three eggs
on your head." The little boy really knew that it was going to be a
painful experience, however, because he needed the dollar he agreed. The bigger
boy then went on to break an egg on his little brother's head. His brother took
it with an " Ouch!" Then he went on to break the second egg on his
brothers. This time it really hurt and his little brother cried out in pain.
However, the young brother was determined to get his dollar. So he braced
himself for the third and last egg, but his senior brother walked away
laughing. " Come on, bring the third and last egg," said the little
boy. " Nope!" said the bigger brother, " I don't want to lose my
dollar."
This story can be
dismissed by anybody regarding it as kids playing pranks, but there is
something more serious going on here. It is called breach of contract. We are
talking about the sense of responsibility, the recognition that every privilege
we enjoy comes with a price tag. Like a big brother in our story, some people
go about trying to take advantage of
others, of the society, and even of God. We see that in the parable of the rebellious farm managers in today's
gospel, who enjoy the benefits that accrue to them as managers but withhold the
benefits that should go to the landowner.
Today's gospel calls for responsibility and accountability in our
dealings with God, which include our dealings with our fellow human beings.
This parable was
directed by Jesus at the Jewish leaders of his day. The parable has a lot to
teach us about stewardship. As such it has very important lessons for church
leaders in particular but also for all of God's people in general. We all have
at least received life from God. Life is given to us in trust. We expected to
cultivate and manage this life in such a way that it bears good fruit- fruit
that we can present to God the owner of our lives on the day of reckoning.
The parable teaches us
a lesson. One of the lesson we get from this parable is the
Providence of God. " There was
a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in
it, and built a watchtower" ( Matthew 21:33a). Before God entrusts a
responsibility to you, He makes provision for all that you will need in
carrying out the responsibility. " Then
he leased it to tenants and went to
another country."(verse 33b). This shows God's trust in us. God does
not stand looking on our shoulders, policing us to make sure we do the right
thing. God leaves the job to us and goes on vacation to a far country. God
trusts that we will do the right thing. Unfortunately many of us don't. The
story also highlights God's Patience with us. God sends messenger
after messenger to the rebellious managers who would not render to God what is
His due. With each messenger, God
provides another chance for us to put an end
to rebellion and do the right thing. Finally there comes a last change,
then we've missed it. In the end we see God's Judgment in which rebellious
humanity lose their very lives and their privileges are transferred to others
who are more promising. The picture is that of providing, trusting, patient,
but also just God.
From this we can learn
a lot about ourselves and how we stand in relation to God. First we see human
privilege. Like the managers of vineyard, everything we have is privilege and
not a merit. This is what we mean when we say that everything is God's grace.
Grace is unmerited favor. Another word for this is privilege. Life itself is a
privilege which can be taken away from any of us at any time. Privilege comes,
however, with responsibility. We are ultimately responsible and accountable to
God for the way we use or abuse our God given privileges. God has given us all
we need to make a judicious use of all our privileges, yet we retain the
ability to abuse it. This is called freedom.
The parable of the wicked
husbandmen, as it is called, is a parable on the misuse of human freedom. Let
us today pray for the wisdom and the courage never to abuse our privileges but
rather to make a good use of all the privileges and opportunities that God
gives us.
In the second reading
St. Paul reminds us one important thing: " Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God." (
Philippians 4:6). A thing that Paul reminds us is that prayer is not simply
reading a shopping list of our needs before God. It also includes thanking God
for the blessing of life and faith that we enjoy already( thanksgiving) and
lifting up before God all other people and their needs ( supplication). Much of
what passes for Christian prayer is too self- centered. But Christian prayer should be God-centered, just
as Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord's prayer. From that prayer we learn the
fours components or ACTS of Christian prayer. Christian prayer is made up
of A-C-T-S. "A" is for
adoration, in which we praise God for His goodness. " C" is for
Contrition, in which we ask forgiveness for our failure. " T" is for
thanksgiving, in which we thank God for blessings received. And " S"
is for Supplication, in which we ask God for our needs and the needs of all of
God's people.
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