The image of the vineyard is a powerful one in both Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew. The Lord carefully plants His vineyard, prepares the soil, and gives it everything necessary to produce good fruit. Yet when harvest time comes, the vineyard produces wild grapes. Jesus uses this same image to speak about the people of God who have been entrusted with His vineyard. The Lord has given us so much: His Word, His Church, the Sacraments, one another, and the countless blessings of our daily lives. The question is not simply what we have received, but what kind of fruit our lives are producing in return. God does not ask us for perfection, but He does ask us for faithfulness.
The temptation is to think of the vineyard as belonging to us to believe that our time, our possessions, our abilities, and even our faith are ours to control. But the Gospel reminds us that everything ultimately belongs to the Lord. We are caretakers, not owners. Each of us has been entrusted with a portion of God’s vineyard, and we are called to cultivate it with love so that it may bear good fruit: charity, forgiveness, generosity, patience, and faithfulness. As we hear these readings, perhaps we should ask ourselves a simple question: If the Lord came today looking for the fruit of His vineyard, what would He find in my life? May we allow Him to prune away whatever keeps us from bearing good fruit and make our lives a faithful offering to Him.
A couple of weeks ago we had QND students here for Mass for homecoming. They dressed up. Why don’t we do this anymore? If you were able to eat a meal with your favorite politician or celebrity or maybe one of the Kings from Europe, you would put on your best clothes and dress up out of respect. Why don’t we see that we eat with the greatest celebrity and King that is Jesus Christ? Why don’t we give him our best? “But Father, shouldn’t we just be glad they are here?” is always the argument. Of course we should, but once we are here the Lord calls us to more and so do our readings today.
When I was really young, I LOVED to wear my little red sport coat everywhere. Really, I called it my “port coat” because I couldn’t say my S’s very well. I loved dressing up for special occasions. So let us give the Lord our very best. Let us elevate the liturgy and wear our finest, as it was always called Our Sunday Best! Let us give our very best to God and raise our worship in our hearts with more effort in our attire.