20231008 THE TRAGEDY OF INGRATITUDE
08 October 2023, Sunday, 27th Week in Ordinary Time
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 © |
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
You brought a vine out of Egypt;
to plant it you drove out the nations.
It stretched out its branches to the sea,
to the Great River it stretched out its shoots.
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Then why have you broken down its walls?
It is plucked by all who pass by.
It is ravaged by the boar of the forest,
devoured by the beasts of the field.
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
God of hosts, turn again, we implore,
look down from heaven and see.
Visit this vine and protect it,
the vine your right hand has planted.
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
And we shall never forsake you again;
give us life that we may call upon your name.
God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Second reading |
Philippians 4:6-9 © |
If there is anything you need, pray for it.
There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise. Keep doing all the things that you learnt from me and have been taught by me and have heard or seen that I do. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn15:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Jn15:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I chose you from the world
to go out and bear fruit,
fruit that will last,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 21:33-43 © |
This is the landlord's heir: come, let us kill him
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, ‘Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third. Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger number, and they dealt with them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.” So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
It was the stone rejected by the builders
that became the keystone.
This was the Lord’s doing
and it is wonderful to see?
‘I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’
THE TRAGEDY OF INGRATITUDE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH 5:1-7; PHILIPPIANS 4:6-9; MATTHEW 21:33-43]
Ingratitude is the underlying root of the failure to respond positively to what we have received in life. When we do not value the gift we have received, we tend to abuse it or neglect to use it well. How often have we received gifts from people but because we do not appreciate them, we put them aside and eventually forget about them? If only the giver knew how little we value their gifts, they would not have made so much sacrifices and time to procure it for us, believing that it is for our good and happiness.
This is the theme of this Sunday’s scripture readings. The liturgy wants us to reflect on the grace of God given to us. In life, everything is grace. How often we forget! We think that it is our hard work alone that has enabled us to achieve our successes in life. We fail to realize that without the grace of God, we would have not been able to be where we are today. The grace of God comes to us in many ways, in our innate talents, health, financial ability, good friends and teachers, contacts and opportunities. We cannot make these factors for success happen but they are givens in life. We did not work for them.
This is precisely what both parables of the vineyard underscore, namely, the graciousness of God. Israel was the vineyard of the Lord. In His kindness and graciousness, God chose Israel to be His vineyard. They were slaves in Egypt and nomads in the desert. However, God gave them the Promised Land so that they could cultivate crops and be prosperous. God gave them the Covenant and the Law so that the country would be united and the people live in peace. They were supposedly the exemplar of how the People of God should conduct themselves and so be the light of the nations. It was indeed such a great privilege. Moses said to the People, “the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession. It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you – for you were the fewest of all peoples.” (Dt 7:6f) Indeed, the Lord gave them all that were needed for them to grow and become prosperous. “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.”
In choosing Israel, God also showed His trust in them. God gave them freedom to act responsibly. “He leased it to tenants and went abroad.” God entrusted His vineyard to them to cultivate. He left it to them to do what they would with it according to the talents, resources and opportunities the Lord had given to them. He did not check on them like a hawk. God was not only gracious but also trusting. Indeed, no greater gift can we give to a person than to trust a person with responsibilities. When we are given a responsible job, a big task to handle, a mega-project, it means that those who delegate us the work have confidence in us and believe that we can deliver.
Alas, instead of producing juicy and sweet grapes, the landowner was greatly disappointed because “sour grapes were all that it gave.” The Lord said, “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?” God posed this question to Israel. The leaders and the people were supposed to develop the Promised Land, build up the People of God, and rule the country justly so that all could share in the benefits of the land. But there was corruption, oppression, injustices and cheating, which weakened and divided the people internally. They received the grace of God in vain.
This same drama is also played out in our life as well. We too have received much graces from God. How often have we taken for granted the comforts we have in life; our house, our food, our health, our education, our jobs, our loved ones and friends; and our faith. God has blessed us all with these gifts. Unfortunately, we often forget that all these are gifts from God. We fail to appreciate them adequately. We have been provided with education but we waste our time idling instead of making use of the opportunity to study. We have been blessed with a loving spouse and loving children but instead of spending time with them, caring for them and putting them first in our lives, we spend more time in social engagements and all our time on our work. What is worse, because of our exposure to the world, we are often tempted to pleasure, sex and sin. Instead of being grateful for our work and the position entrusted to us, we do not take our work seriously. We are not diligent and are careless. Some of us even cheat our organizations. So too, the gift of faith. Many of us, especially cradle Catholics who are born into the faith, tend to take it for granted. We do not nurture it, continue to be formed in the faith and grow in spiritual life. We do not celebrate the sacraments regularly or spend time praying the scriptures.
Yet, in spite of our negligence and ingratitude, God, as our Prodigal Father, is always generous, merciful, patient and accommodating. Just as He kept sending prophet after prophet to appeal to Israel to wake up to their sinful state of life and repent, God also sends us messengers, through our friends, our colleagues, our superiors, and through failures and suffering to alert us of our need to take the graces and gifts of God responsibly. God was not simply contented to send His servants, the prophets, but His Only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, instead of being grateful that God sent His messengers to call us to repentance, we react negatively. We are angry with our bosses for pointing out our weaknesses and mistakes. We become defensive and bitter. We are angry and resentful of our parents who care for us when they seek to guide us to live a good and responsible life. We are annoyed with the Church for her moral teachings on living an authentic life. We think God, the Church, our loved ones and our bosses are against us because they take away our freedom.
Indeed, the choice is really ours. Jesus said to the Jews, “Have you never read in the scriptures: It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone.” We can see the prophets and messengers of God and our faith in Christ as the cornerstone of our life and our happiness, or we can see them as a stone that causes us to trip and fall, because they make our lives inconvenient and difficult, or worse still, by failing to listen to the warning, let the stone crush us completely. “The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” (Mt 21:44) Jesus warned the Jews and us of the consequences. Like the Israelites, the vineyard was run down by their enemies eventually. He said, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end. I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” We, too, will face the same consequences if we do not take heed of the grace given to us. We, too, will allow complacency, negligence and ingratitude to lead us into self damnation. Ironically, those who are converts and repentant will be the ones who will find fullness of life than those so-called “old” Catholics.
Indeed, we must take heed of the exhortation of St Paul in the second reading. He urges us to place our trust in God. “If there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus.” In gratitude and trust, we will find peace in our lives. Next, we find peace by filling our minds “with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise.” Most of all, let us put into practice all that we have heard and learned as St Paul advises us, “Keep doing all the things that you learnt from me and have been taught by me and have heard or seen that I do. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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