October 04, 2026. 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Isaiah: 5:1-7; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43

Parents will do whatever it takes for their children’s welfare, without caring much about themselves, so long as their children have what they need to grow into responsible adults. They would be disappointed if their children don’t grow up to meet their expectations, or when they take to drugs and become the exact opposite of what they expected; worse still, if they engage in harmful behaviors that will bring shame to their families. Hence, parents would say, “What else could we have done for my children that we did not do? How is it that instead of becoming a responsible and respectable member of society, they have become a criminal and have brought shame to our family?” That is how Isaiah sees the chosen people of God. God brought them out of Egypt with strong hands and fought to drive their enemies away. He gave them an inheritance they did not work for, the land flowing with milk and honey. Yet they turned away from God and followed their own paths. Today’s first reading asks of them: “What more was there to do for My vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?” (Is. 4:4).

Today’s gospel picks up the same theme in the parable of the vineyard and ungrateful tenants. The vineyard owner did everything right. He provided the conditions for a robust harvest. But the tenants were ungrateful. They treated those sent to bring in the harvest with contempt. Last of all, they killed the son of the owner of the vineyard with the intent to take possession of the vineyard. No one should doubt who the parable was directed at. “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel” (Isaiah 5:7). The owner of the vineyard is God, and the cultivators are Israel’s religious leaders, who, as it were, had charge from God of the nation’s welfare. The messengers sent successively are the prophets, so often rejected and killed. The son, who came last, is none other than Jesus himself. Here, in a vivid story, Jesus set in motion Israel’s history and doom at once.   

These readings teach us that God trusts and has entrusted the world to us to cultivate on his behalf. He does not look over our shoulders but expects us to deliver at the proper time. “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.” (Jn. 15:16). Being the object of special favor does not guarantee anything. Personal responsibility is always required, and nothing can substitute for it.

God is patient with us. He wants us to change, do what is right, and be saved. “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but rather in the wicked man’s conversion, that he may live. Why should you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11). The master sent messengers. He gave the cultivators chance after chance to respond to his appeal. “It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” (Matt. 18:14). God’s patience is not eternal; judgment will come if we do not change our ways, repent, and do what is right. In the end, the master of the vineyard took the vineyard from the cultivators and gave it to others. God’s sternest judgment is when He takes from our hands the task he meant us to do. “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.” (Matt. 21:41) We are answerable for the way in which we have carried out the task God gave us to do. A man has sunk to his lowest level when he has become useless to God.

In the second reading, St. Paul exhorts us to pursue holiness and not rebel against our creator. We should set our minds on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, and worthy of praise. The anxiety of the task the Lord has entrusted to us should not intimidate us. If we are anxious, we should pray with thanksgiving in our hearts, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds so that we may abide in God and His goodness.

One thing we should not forget, dear friends, is that the readings are the cry of a rejected lover. These readings emphasize God’s tremendous love for his people. And yet the vineyard (Israel and, by extension, all of us) brought forth only wild grapes. We often preferred to go our own way and abandoned the God who loves us and provides all we need. We have often chosen our own path and treated our brothers and sisters with contempt. Unless we change our ways and bear good fruits, God will give our responsibilities to others. We pray that this may never happen to us. So let us pick up our prayer books and rosary beads, return to the Lord, and ask for his mercy. He will forgive and have mercy on us. And so, dear friends, “Let us seek while he may be found; call him while he is near. Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked man his thoughts; Let him turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous and forgiving.” (Is. 55:6-7). May God bless and keep us.

 

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP