Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 139

 

Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.'

 

 

There is great sadness in that remark. The landowner doesn't seem to understand what should be obvious. His tenants have already snubbed, mistreated and finally killed the messengers he sent them. How can he believe they will respect his son?
Because the parable obviously refers to the passion and death of Jesus it highlights the enormous trust and superabundant love God has for his people. Even yet will he love them.
The Gospels invite us to meditate on God's trust and love for us.


First I think of God's "investment" in the Virgin Mary. Catholics understand her vocation as "The Immaculate Conception;" she is full of grace; the most favored one.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux has a marvelous meditation on Mary's conversation with the Angel Gabriel. The Universe hangs in the balance as this young woman ponders the Angel's message and Bernard urges her:

Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet.

Even with so many blessings she is free and has a choice. How often have we seen extremely "blessed" individuals -- people with intelligence, talent, money, opportunities and good looks -- waste their good fortune with extraordinarily stupid decisions?
God trusted Mary to make the right choice even as she stood on the brink of a new axial age.
The story of God's trust extends to the helpless infant born in a manger. Joseph and Mary went to extraordinary lengths to protect the baby from the "homage" of King Herod.


Secondly, today's gospel reminds us of God's great love for us. The son whom we should respect is the same of whom we read,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life."

This parable accentuates the terrible irony of the crucifixion. We have murdered the very one who was sent to show us how to live in peace, without violence! And yet God raises him up again and restores him to life, and we have seen his glory!
Nor is Jesus beyond the reach of human barbarity. Quite the contrary, he is martyred again whenever we treat any one of his people badly. Saint Paul heard the Lord's groans as he fell to the ground, "Why do you persecute me?"
Whenever an infant is conceived, an alien crosses a border, a person of color applies for a school or a job, an uninsured person seeks health care or an old person needs assistance God says again, "'They will respect my son."