God has entrusted the vineyard to us to care for and cultivate, and to produce fine wine! And in the sense of the parable, the fine wine is not just for ourselves but for the owner of the vineyard too. Yet how do we care for the vineyard, and with whom do we share the fruit of the earth? Do we recognize who “owns” the earth and all it contains? Do we see ourselves as entrusted with a sacred trust or do we see the earth as something to be exploited for our own good, for our use without care of future generations without care of how the Creator/Owner feels for the land we abuse? Many questions! But at the core of them all I believe seems to be one of identity and relationship. Understanding our identity as the beloved of God, God’s daughters and sons, ALL of US and understanding from that identity flows our relationship! And it is this reality that then is to inform all of the actions in our lives….to live as the beloved of God!
But we find ourselves living in a vineyard filled with hatred and division, a place where everyone is out for themselves and what they can get out of life without any concern for how it hurts the other. Many businesses around the world overwork and underpay their employees forcing them to work in subhuman conditions for less money than it is humanly possible to live on. As a nation we proliferate the arms race and threaten war rather than sit down to talk of peace and mutual cooperation. We reel once again from gun violence, the largest mass shooting in our country, and already begin to fight against stricter gun laws to prevent such senseless acts of mass gun violence.
We claim that we value the dignity of all life and yet we imprison more people than any other developed nation, we own more guns per capita than any other nation and procure more abortions. We put more people to death and continue to deny basic healthcare to the most needy in our society while we round up productive, tax paying, undocumented women and men to send them back to countries where their chances of leading successful lives are far less than here.
The vineyard is not ours. It belongs to the Creator and we need to recognize that how we live on the earth and how we treat one another matters deeply to the One who made us and who made the vineyard!
On this opening Sunday of Respect Life Month let us pray for an end to all forms of violence and disrespect of human life from conception to natural death. Let us pray an end to systemic racism and bigotry, an end to misogyny and xenophobia and all actions that disrespect the dignity and sacredness of human life.
Blessings,
Fr. Tim
But we find ourselves living in a vineyard filled with hatred and division, a place where everyone is out for themselves and what they can get out of life without any concern for how it hurts the other. Many businesses around the world overwork and underpay their employees forcing them to work in subhuman conditions for less money than it is humanly possible to live on. As a nation we proliferate the arms race and threaten war rather than sit down to talk of peace and mutual cooperation. We reel once again from gun violence, the largest mass shooting in our country, and already begin to fight against stricter gun laws to prevent such senseless acts of mass gun violence.
We claim that we value the dignity of all life and yet we imprison more people than any other developed nation, we own more guns per capita than any other nation and procure more abortions. We put more people to death and continue to deny basic healthcare to the most needy in our society while we round up productive, tax paying, undocumented women and men to send them back to countries where their chances of leading successful lives are far less than here.
The vineyard is not ours. It belongs to the Creator and we need to recognize that how we live on the earth and how we treat one another matters deeply to the One who made us and who made the vineyard!
On this opening Sunday of Respect Life Month let us pray for an end to all forms of violence and disrespect of human life from conception to natural death. Let us pray an end to systemic racism and bigotry, an end to misogyny and xenophobia and all actions that disrespect the dignity and sacredness of human life.
Blessings,
Fr. Tim
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