27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Pondering Isaiah’s story about the vineyard and Jesus’ parable about the vineyard, I was reminded that there is something that God cannot do.  God gave us the gift of free will and therefore God cannot make us do something that we do not want to do.  The story of the vineyards illustrates the refusal of the people of God’s people to produce the fruit that would result from doing the will of God.  In Isaiah’s time people had fallen away from following the Lord God and therefore the vineyard of the Lord was in ruins.   And with Jesus standing before them, the religious leaders in the temple were unwilling to accept him and therefore were missing the opportunity to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

As a teacher, I have known the frustration and anger that results when students won’t do what they have to do in order to succeed.  No matter how much help they are offered, if students are unwilling to do their part, there is nothing more a teacher can do.  Certainly, parents have the same experience with their children at times.  And being human, we may give up or get upset and make threats.  At times in the Scriptures God is portrayed at having some of those same reactions and that can leave us with a wrong impression about God.

Our God is love and will never condemn us or give up on us.  Quite the contrary, the Word of God became one of us and died to save us so that we might live forever.  The Holy Spirit has been poured into our hearts so that we might bear fruit and grow in holiness.  God is always reaching out to offer us grace so that we might lead a virtuous life.  God does nothing but love us, and once we turn away from our sins and ask forgiveness, as Jesus told his disciples, the angels rejoice, as God restores us to our rightful place as loved sons and daughters of God the Father. 

So the choice is always ours and when we make bad choices and do nothing to repair the damage, we will suffer the consequences.  But that will be the result of our actions; it is not God finally having had enough and abandoning us.  Rather God waits and watches and never stops trying to break through our resistance and rebellion. 

As Mother Teresa said, God does not call us to be perfect, but to be faithful.  As followers of Jesus, we are faithful to doing the best we can, and when that is not enough, we are faithful to seeking the merciful face of Jesus in prayer and sacrament so that we may continue on the Way. 

Strengthened by God’s compassionate faithfulness, we take to heart Paul’s words to the Philippians in the second reading.  Rather than give in to anxiety, we make our requests known to God with prayer, petition and thanksgiving, and the peace of God then will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And then we head back to work in the vineyard.