Matthew 21:33-43
Remember Gratitude
by Rev. Jack Peterson, YA
Reprinted with permission of "The Arlington Catholic Herald"

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Matthew wrote to show that Christ was the
Messiah and fulfilled the Jewish prophecies.

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: "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 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."

Gospel parables are stories handcrafted by Christ to teach us very important truths about God and about us.  Today, Jesus uses a parable to proclaim the goodness of the Father and the importance of humility and gratitude.

The landowner in today's parable represents God who fashions a vineyard.  The vineyard represented the people of Israel at the time of Christ and represents the kingdom of God on earth today.  The tenants represented the Jews and their various leaders.  Today, the tenants represent nonbelievers and perhaps Christians of weak faith.  The servants represented the bishops, priests, consecrated and faith-filled lay leaders.

The parable is a profound invitation to the virtue of humility.  God fashioned the vineyard with great love and generosity.  God carefully and thoughtfully prepared the world for us, his beloved children.  The tenants fail to recognize that they are given the tremendous privilege of using this well-crafted vineyard.  They are stewards of a gift leased to them by a most generous God.  They are not its creators or its owners, but its stewards.

It is easy to lose sight of our place in this grand scheme of reality.  It is easy for us to become blind, greedy and selfish.  It is easy to desire to exercise control over and consider our own what has been lovingly entrusted to us for our careful use and oversight.  Sometimes, this greed and selfishness gets really dark when we become willing to steal what is not ours and even willing to kill to get what we want.

Conversely, today's parable is an invitation to be persons who are committed to grateful remembrance.  We are prone to forget who made us, fashioned us in his very image and likeness, and redeemed us from sin and selfishness.  We slide into that dark place when we forget who continues to hold us in the palm of his hand every day, give us the breath of life at every moment of our earthly journey, and share his very life and love with us with generosity and tenderness.  In our broken human nature, we lose sight of the radical dependence we have upon the Lord of life and love.

So, we are invited to be good servants who live with deep humility.  This means going through our day more fully aware of the truth that we are God's children.  Our countless gifts and blessings, many of which we don't even seek come from a generous and loving God.  We owe our very existence to a God who created us as a unique person with whom he greatly desires a warm, deep and personal relationship.  Each of us was fashioned through the direct will and intention of God who wants us to be united with him in love in a most powerful way on this earth and which surpasses all understanding in heaven for the rest of eternity.  His plan is that we use our gifts and talents while on this pilgrimage through life to work with him in building a kingdom of love and truth.  "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations" (Mt28:19).

Humility, couples with profound gratitude, leads to holiness, joy, generosity and meaningfulness.  When we remain prayerful and take time daily to ponder the marvelous deeds of God that surrounds us, we get overwhelmed by the greatness of his love, the generosity of his mercy, the unexplainable strength that he provides and the wonderful privilege of assisting him in ending his vineyard.

Few things in this world are uglier than pride and selfishness.  Few things are more beautiful than humility and gratitude.  "I have chosen you from the world, says the Lord, to go and bear fruit that will remain" (Gospel antiphon).