403. Twenty-seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)
Meditations no. 361 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
Working faithfully in the Lordâs vineyard.
That householderâs dream finally came true. After saving for years, at last he was able to buy the vineyard. He fenced it in to keep out animals, built a winepress and raised a tower. When everything was finished, he let it out to tenants, and went into another country.
The parable Christ relates to us has a clear application. The vineyard is the holy Church, and the Work as well, within her, and it was bought at the price of our Lordâs Blood. This vineyard is now in our hands to cultivate from dawn to dusk so that it yields the fruit of souls. When no wind, hail or storms threaten the harvest, the labour isnât overly taxing. But less pleasant, more trying times may come. My child, our Father said, Iâm not speaking to you about now⌠, Iâm speaking in case your heart were ever to begin to waver. Then I ask you for faithfulness, a faithfulness shown in making good use of time, in the struggle to control your imagination and overcome your pride, in your decision to obey blindly, so as never to abandon the vineyard in which our Lord wants you to work.
Working the vineyard can sometimes be hard. When the day dawns cold, and frost threatens to destroy so much effort; when the grapes are late in ripening or seem to be stunted; or when deep down we begin to ask ourselves a question seemingly suggested to us by the sower of cockle: âAm I any good at vine-growing?â But there is the fence, an undeniable reality, the tall tower too. And over there is the winepress, ready to turn the clusters of grapes into fine wine. The vineyard is here, and thatâs why we need to stay in it.
We are vine-growers because itâs Godâs will for us: he has guided and taught us, and will ensure that our efforts bear fruit. God has given me my life, senses, faculties, countless graces: among them, the divine, sovereign grace of a vocation, which is why Iâm here with you. Iâve no right to forget that Iâm one of the people he has called to work in this vineyard. Precisely here, in this vineyard, within this fence, called to work with him and co-redeem with him.
Our life has taken on a definite direction since we responded to Godâs call. All our personal goals and aspirations are now guided by the radical truth of our divine vocation. Everything takes on meaning in its light. Therefore in our prayer, at Holy Communion, and so often throughout the day, we turn to God in thanksgiving and ask him for the gift, also unmerited, of perseverance. No detail with respect to our calling is small or unimportant. Everything in our vocation savours of eternity, of souls, for we plan to enter heaven in the company of those we have met on lifeâs journey.
Our vineyard, our apostolic work, is the passion of our life and requires complete dedication. If necessary, we would lay down our lives to protect it. We received this plot of land on loan, and have spent many days in faithful, self-sacrificing work. Therefore we confidently await the moment to render an account to the vineyardâs Owner, our Father God.
Not allowing compensations or half-measures in interior struggle or apostolate.
There was a rich man who planted a vineyard; he walled it in, and dug a wine-press and built a tower in it, and then let it out to some vinedressers, while he went on his travels.
I would like you to meditate with me on what this parable teaches, bearing in mind the points we are interested in now. This story has traditionally been seen to refer to the destiny of Godâs chosen people, above all pointing out how we human beings respond with unfaithfulness and ingratitude to so much love on Godâs part.
In particular I should like to concentrate on the phrase âhe went on his travels.â I come immediately to the conclusion that we Christians must not abandon the vineyard where God has placed us. We must direct our energies to the work before us, within these walls, toiling in the wine-press, and then taking our rest in the tower when our dayâs work is over. If we were to give in to comfort, it would be like telling Jesus, âLook, my time is mine, not yours. I donât want to tie myself down to looking after your vineyard.â
Instead, we should tell our Lord that he can count on us, that we wonât abandon the field he has entrusted to us. Our Father wrote: let us ask our Lord that we may be souls who are ready to work with a heroism that proves fruitful. For there is no lack of people here on earth who, on being approached, turn out to be nothing but large, shiny, glossy leaves. Foliage, just foliage, and nothing more. Meanwhile, many souls are looking to us hoping to satisfy their hunger, which is a hunger for God. We must not forget that we have all the means we need. We have sufficient doctrine and the grace of God, in spite of our wretchedness.
Complete self-giving, keeping back nothing for ourselves, is a prerequisite for effectiveness. All our days have to be absorbed by our apostolic work. Nothing can remain on the fringe of this goal, since it would only end up taking us away from our path and become a source of bitterness. We need to work energetically, with no concessions to lukewarmness. Our Lord is happy to see he has entrusted his vineyard to workers dedicated to the ownerâs interests, despite their defects and the inevitable weariness caused by identical days of work, and not giving in to dreams that are out of place, from that time when they committed themselves body and soul to work for him.
Our Father stressed: If we do not wish to waste our time in useless activities, or in making excuses about the difficulties in our environment - for there have always been difficulties ever since Christianity began -we must remember that Christ has decreed that success in attracting our fellow men will depend, as a rule, on how much interior life we ourselves have ⌠It may seem hard to believe, but both God and our fellow men require from us an unswerving faithfulness that is true to its name and is consistent down to the last detail, with no half measures or compromises, a faithfulness to the fullness of the Christian vocation which we lovingly accept and caringly practise.
We have to yield abundant fruits of holiness and apostolate.
When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit. Our Lord asks us to bear fruit. We canât be satisfied with merely preventing the enemy from pillaging the vineyard. Nor can we be happy with mediocre zeal, with scant human and supernatural enthusiasm. We need to carry out our God-given mission with complete dedication. God is asking us for a great deal of fruit. We canât offer sour, stunted fruit when he expects rich clusters of grapes.
Ours has to be a serious, self-sacrificing struggle, without giving in to the delays of laziness or the deceits of pride, which yield only stunted, useless fruit. We have to work with a least as much effort as any determined person puts into a noble human ideal. The world is cold and seems to be asleep, our Father wrote. You often gaze upon it, from your vantage point, with a look that would set it on fire. Lord, may it awaken!
Channel your bursts of impatience with the knowledge that if we keep our own lives ablaze, well spread fire to every corner of the world, and everything will change.
We cannot be content with our present efforts. Interior life shows in a hunger to reach more souls, to set ablaze the cold panorama of a world that does not know Christ. Now is the moment to set specific goals for ourselves. For only if we truly make our life into a holocaust can we sincerely ask God for the vocations needed to continue spreading his kingdom.
Our Father asked: how are we to carry out this apostolate? First of all, by our example, by living according to the Fatherâs will, as Jesus, with his life and teaching, taught us to do. True faith does not permit our actions to contradict what we say. Let us examine our own behaviour, to see how genuine our faith is. We are not sincere believers if we are not striving to put into practice what we preach with our lips.
The fruit of our prayer today should be the conviction that our journey on earth, at all times and whatever the circumstances, is for God; that it is a treasure of glory, a foretaste of heaven, something marvellous, which has been entrusted to us to administer, with a sense of responsibility, being answerable both to men and to God. But it is not necessary for us to change our situation in life. Right in the middle of the world we can sanctify our profession or job, our home life, and social relations -in fact all those things that seem to have only a worldly significance.
Our Lady contemplates our calm and determined effort to fulfil her Sonâs will. Through her intercession, we will continue to receive the graces we need to carry it out faithfully.