A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and companions, martyrs
Find today’s readings here.
His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power.
The progression of today’s readings is quite interesting. First, in a passage from 2 Peter, we are reminded that God has given us everything we need to “come to share in the divine nature,” and that we must strive to cultivate those gifts with virtue, study, self-control, endurance and love. The responsorial psalm reinforces the message that God has blessed us and will continue to help and support us through times of trouble.
The Gospel picks up this same theme but takes it in a new direction. Speaking to the “chief priests, the scribes, and the elders,” Jesus tells a story about people who fail to take proper advantage of the gifts they have been given.
This parable involves a harried master and bad tenants who fail to steward the property entrusted to them. But the set-up is quite careful: Jesus makes it clear that the master has not simply inherited, or even purchased, a valuable piece of property. The master himself “planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower.” Real thought and effort have gone into this enterprise, with even a protective hedge and tower to ensure their business succeeds.The lucky tenants are fully equipped to be successful vintners.
“At the proper time,” presumably meaning that they have been given a chance to get established, the tenants are asked for some payment. The master naturally expects a return on his considerable investment. The tenants respond with savagery. Surprisingly, the master is patient, offering them more opportunities to prove that they can deliver the goods. But even the master’s request infuriates them. Though they were offered a golden opportunity, they had nothing to show for themselves. They choose to become thugs rather than work to make something of the tremendous resources entrusted to their care.
This parable can be read as a warning to the chief priests and elders of ancient Israel, but all of us have, in our various ways, been entrusted with rich gifts that God expects us to use for good. Those might include material resources, personal talents or loving human relationships. The graces given to us in our baptism are themselves a wonderful inheritance that we can choose to develop or squander.
Like the master in the parable, God has been careful and deliberate about setting up each enterprise, including the one that is your life. He gives us whatever is needed to succeed in the life that he has for us. This can be immensely comforting in times of disappointment. Of course, it is frustrating for us from our human vantage point to strive for a goal and fall short. But if our efforts are sincere, we can rest in the comforting reassurance that God is not disappointed in us, even if we fail. His plans for us are always greater than our own.
However, people do fail, when they waste or abuse the gifts bestowed on them. It is therefore incumbent on each of us to consider carefully: what gifts have I been given, and what am I expected to make of them? When has God sent “messengers” into my life to ask for a return on his investment? How did I treat them when they appeared?
For anyone who feels dissatisfied with the answers to those questions, the good news is that the master in this parable is patient, for a while at least. Despite their appalling behavior, he gives his unworthy tenants multiple opportunities to make good on their commitments. But some day, the master’s own Son will step into the vineyard of your life and ask what you have to show for yourself. Be ready.
