Dear Parish Family,

In the Scriptures, a vineyard is an image for Israel itself and the owner is God (e.g., Isaiah 5). If anyone is commissioned by the Owner to “go out and work in the vineyard,” it is surely the religious leaders. When the chief priests and elders affirm that the one who did his father's will is the one who, though he initially said no, later goes to work, they condemn themselves, as Jesus spells out in his application (Mt 21:32).

 “When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did.” In this, the tax collectors are like the first son (the no/yes one); for in their former way of life, they were ‘naysayers’ to the will of God, but they eventually did the will of God by responding in repentance to the preaching of John the Baptist. In one way, the leaders seem to reflect the performance of the second son, in that, as religious leaders, they were ostensibly keepers of the law of God. But, since the immediate context entails the responses first to John and now to himself, they are “none of the above.” That is, the chief priests and elders have been closed to God's authority both when it was mediated by John and also now as it is mediated by Jesus. So they are worse than either of the two sons in the parable. Intent only on holding on to their own human authority, they have become hard of heart, unresponsive to God's mediators. Yet, Jesus' confrontation does not slam the door on his listeners. He says that the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God “before you”—not instead of you. Conversion is always possible.

The chief priests and elders, as we often see in the Gospels, were full of self-importance, so faithful to the observance of the Law that they felt no need for repentance, for humbling themselves before God, much less before others, as would have been the case if they had publicly presented themselves to John for baptism. The bad news is: we can’t rest on our laurels, on any good we have done. The good news is: we aren’t doomed by our past sins. We simply have to recognize God’s work in our lives, understand that our salvation is his work, that the best we can do is accept the gift, and cooperate with God’s will in our own imperfect way.

One of God’s greatest gifts is that he makes his will known to us. Another is the grace that makes it possible for us to say yes. Another is that he is always ready to forgive us when we say no, and take us back when we return to him. It’s all his work. It’s all HIS GRACE. Not just in you, not just in me, but in all of us. We have ample grounds for genuine humility.

Fr. Tom Kunnel C.O.