Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 4, 2020

IS 5:1-7  |  PHIL 4:6-9  |  MT 21:33-43

Scripture

Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

Bishop Mark Seitz-El Paso

• A courageous and prophetic Priest
• An Ambassador for healing after the deaths of twenty-three Latinos in a Walmart parking lot
• In Bishop Mark’s words

Jesus’s Story-The Parable of the Tenants

• Tenants get caught up in their own self-interest and greed
• Servants are harassed, abused and killed as they try to collect rent
• Landowner tries to respond to evil with good
• He sends his beloved son and they kill him

The Parable – An Allegory

• Everything stands for someone or something else
• The tender care of the owner-God’s tender care for us
• The tenants – Religious leaders of who put their own interests above God’s People
• The owners beloved son – Jesus himself

Interesting Note

• The landowner’s son was taken outside the vineyard to be killed.
• Jesus was taken outside the city walls to Calvary to be killed
• They both were on the outside looking in
• Jesus was always and outsider standing up for those who were thrown away
• He remained there at the end of his life.

Catholic Social Teaching and Solidarity

• The sacred teaching that we are one human family
• Do we write others off?
• Do we not want to give somebody the time of day?
• We are our brother’s and sister’s keepers, wherever they may be

Let Us Pray!

• For compassion
• To be willing to put ourselves in other people’s shoes

Questions for Reflection

• What impacted you from today’s Readings and/or homily?
• Have you ever felt like you were on the outside?  What was that like?
• In what way is your life lived in solidarity with someone on the outside?

Live Connected

• Pray for insights in how to be more compassionate and understanding to others who live on the outside
• If inspired, act upon what God might asking of you