Almighty, ever-living God, Who in the abundance of Your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat You, pour out Your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask... collect for the 27th Sunday
First reading: Isaiah 5:1-7 Responsorial: Psalm 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20 Second reading: Philippians 4:6-9 Gospel passage: Matthew 21:33-43
Divine Frustration and Human Gratitude by Fr. Joseph Scolaro
On Good Friday each year, the Church can sing one of the most moving pieces of liturgical music: the Reproaches. We hear Christ speak plaintively – “My people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me! I led you out of Egypt, from slavery to freedom, but you led your Savior to the cross” It is heartbreaking to hear, Christ reminding us of the love that was shown and asking what he did to deserve such treatment. Verse after verse goes on, “What more could I have done for you. I planted you as a fairest vine, but you yielded only bitterness: when I was thirsty you gave me vinegar to drink, and you pierced your Savior with a lance.”
We hear echoes of this week’s reading from the prophet Isaiah, who gives expression to the divine frustration. God has planted Israel, the choice vine, to bring forth good fruit. Following the stories of the Old Testament we see how time after time He intercedes on their behalf, He blesses them, He protects them so that they may flourish and bless the world. And yet as much as he expects a return on His investment, as much as He expects that they too uphold their end of the bargain, time after time they bring forth only bitter fruit. Writing in the 8th Century BC before the Exile, Isaiah prophesies the coming consequences for this failure, where the walls will be broken and the vineyard trampled by enemies. Turning from God’s ways leads only to suffering.
We can hear the Psalm, then, as a cry in response to God. Recognizing God’s goodness in the past, it asks why suffering has now come? How could God let those He loves be despoiled? This is a question that can weigh heavily on the hearts of many, especially in light of so much tragedy in recent days. But responding to divine frustration, the Psalm ends as all prayers should, with gratitude, in the form of trust, dependence, and the desire to repent and change.
And this is a trust and desire to repent made explicit in the Letter of St. Paul. In the face of anxiety, particularly in difficult times, through prayer and thanks to God we will find peace. If we accept what we cannot change with this attitude, no matter what happens, we will persevere. More than that, when we are faced with difficult times, we have the responsibility to remain upright ourselves. True peace will come when we are just and honorable and true even as we are cast down. Christ reveals this to us most perfectly on the cross, always loving and forgiving those who put him there, those whose guilt he carried, those whom he was dying to redeem.
The challenge thus comes to us in the Gospel. We are tenants who have been blessed with a vineyard, who have been given so many blessings by God. We have not earned any of it, and yet it has been given to us so that we may do our best until the master’s return. Are we prepared for that final accounting? Our faith teaches us that we are put on this earth with a mission: to become like Christ ourselves and to spread the Good News to others. And we’re not expected to do it on our own. We have been given by God all the gifts we need. Even in our failures, we are forgiven and allowed another chance. In order to persevere though, we must have an appreciation for all that Christ has done, and commit ourselves to making him the cornerstone of our lives. Is this true for us? Do we treat him as the tenants do, or as the people of Israel did after all the good he had done for them, meriting that plaintive cry of the Reproaches? Or do we show gratitude, recognizing his blessings and putting them to good use? We pray that at the end of time we will able to present him with a rich harvest from the vineyard, as a small gift in return for the many blessings he has bestowed on us.
