27th Sunday of the Year (A)

Edited for October 4, 2026, from Sunday reflections year 2014 (A)

October 5, 2014
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80
Philippians 4:6-9
Matthew 21:33-43

"He sent his son but the tenants killed him."

This Sunday's gospel passage is about the parable of the wicked tenants.

There are three parables in succession for three Sundays in a row, all from the gospel of Matthew:

• the first one, 26th Sunday Year A, Matthew 21:28-32, was last Sep 27, 2026
• the second one, 27th Sunday Year A, Matthew 21:33-43, Oct 4, 2026
• the third one, 28th Sunday Year A, Matthew 22:1-14, will be on Oct 11, 2026

The first one is the parable of the two sons, Mt 21:28-32, while this Sunday's parable is the parable of the wicked tenants. Next Sunday's parable is the parable of the wedding banquet, Mt 22:1-14.

When reading these three parables, one can discover a common pattern of protagonist pairing - that of a father and a son. This father-son theme runs throughout the three parables: father and second-son (or first-son, depending on your New Testament translation) in the first parable; father-landowner and son-who-inherits in the second parable; and father-king and son-bridegroom in the third parable.

Strongly emphasized in these father-son protagonist pairs is the will of the father on the son/sons, or over those he has authority over, which includes the tenants in the second parable, and servants in the third parable.

Reading the parables in detail, one will notice that in the first parable, after the father gave a command to two sons, only one did the father's will and went into the vineyard to work. There is one instance of disobedience and obedience on the part of each of the two sons. However, in reality we are not to judge the other son who said "Yes", but did not go to the vineyard. The parable is only meant to simplify the moral lesson that people change: sinners repent, amend their ways, and do God's will. And God selects a chosen few, like St. Augustine of Hippo, to lead a heroic life of virtue that His Kingdom may be built on strong foundations.

Returning to this Sunday's parable of the father-landowner and the son-who-inherits-the-vineyard, it is plain to see that the son fully obeyed his father's will. The disobedience in this case comes from the wicked tenants. These tenants were judged as wicked because of three instances were they abused and killed the people sent by the father: the first two instances involved the abuse and killing of a group of servants, while the third and last instance is the abuse and killing of the father-landowner's son. The goal of the tenants was to grab the inheritance that was meant for the son. And there is a hint of rebellion that may be planned by the tenants vs. the landowner.

What do existing writings say about this parable?

Bishop Fulton Sheen wrote something about this parable in his book "Life of Christ". He makes an analogy. He writes that God (symbolized in the parable by the father-landowner of the vineyard), was not wearied out with the cruelty and evil of the people (the tenants). By sending a second group of servants, God was giving the wicked people an opportunity to repent and not to repeat the evil they did. It is the will of God to bring those people (the tenants) to obey His will. However, when the second group of servants was ill-treated as the first group, God finally sent His Son. But the people, still steeped in their wickedness, mercilessly killed the Son.

With just this simple parable, Jesus provided His hearers a glimpse of the whole history of salvation. God sent many prophets to His people Israel to warn them of their wicked ways. But His people continued to kill these prophets. We only have to read about the many prophets who were ill-treated and killed by biblical-historical Israel. A list of examples are given below:

• Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern,
• Jonah was thrown into the sea,
• Zechariah was stoned to death
• Micaiah was slapped and imprisoned
• Uriah was hunted down and executed with a sword
• Elijah was hunted under death threats, and
• John the Baptist, the last of the OT prophets, was beheaded

This is how biblical-historical Israel continued to treat the "servants" of God.

However, when the time was right, God sent His Son, Jesus, to proclaim His Kingdom and to know His will. But still steeped in their sins, a generation of biblical-historical Israelites still did not heed the warning which the prophets had given. They nailed Jesus, God's only begotten Son, to the Cross, and killed Him. The Father, however, vindicated His Son. He raised Jesus from the dead, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and made Him the cornerstone of the Church. It is the Church who now continues the work of Jesus to bring all humanity to repent and obey God's will.

That is the point of this Sunday's gospel. God does not give up on His people, even when they had killed all those He had sent before Jesus. And it is not only biblical-historical Israel that needs repentance, but all humanity, especially at this time.

There is another perspective that can be examined in this parable of the wicked tenants. Remember that the goal of the father-landowner was to claim the harvest of "his investment" from the tenants. He was a "businessman", with a son who may have had some knowledge of their family business. Otherwise, the father would not trust him and send him for that purpose.

But what happened? The tenants' hearts continued to be filled with sin since the killing of the two groups of servants which the father-landowner sent. Their hearts were intent on gaining what they wanted without obeying the father-landowner. Their sin is grievous because they did not only ill-treat the servants but killed some as well. It is a just act for the father-landowner to give the evil tenants a bad end and lease his vineyard to other tenants who would yield the grapes he wants to harvest in due time.

Given these two perspectives, one can see the mission of the Church to lead all humanity to a change of heart (metanoia) - to obey the Lord and do His will. On one level, the Church prays that all may repent, amend their ways, and return to follow the gospel values which Jesus has taught in all His parables. On another level, the Church also promotes the ideal of social justice, the just distribution of this world's goods, human and workers' rights and dignity, and solidarity among workers (unions). Both are missionary activities of the Church. And the Church is able to do so not only through active missionary work, but also, and more significantly through the source and summit of all God's graces: the Eucharist. For it is ultimately God's Spirit, in Word and Sacrament, that can effect a change of heart (metanoia) in the hearts of all peoples.

Scripture quotes for reflection:
"The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his cherished plant." (Isaiah 5)

See also: Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Reflection on Mary Since the Pentecost Event in the Book of Acts

An image of Mary was featured in Time. Though not familiar with the article on Time, I have read some comments about it in the Internet. According to the Time webpage, the article on Mary speaks about how, in our present times, Protestants and other evangelical communities are more inclined now to see Mary in a positive light - as one with greater significance than what they previously perceived her to be.

Devotion to Mary has a long tradition in the Catholic church. It began with the apostolic communities who knew Mary, and who were with her before and after the event of Pentecost. If we examine the text of Acts 1:7-11, which describes the mystery of Christ's Ascension into heaven, the following verses 12-14 mention Mary as present with the apostles in prayer in the "upper room" (RSV). The biblical text explicitly says, "All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers."

Since Mary was part of the Pentecost community, according to St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, she is said to have "given birth" to the Church. Montfort, a French missionary priest from the 17th century, mentions in his spiritual writings that Mary gave birth to Jesus and the Church. As Jesus is the Head of the Church, then that Head ought to have also a Body, which is the Church. This is not only a gift of spiritual intuition by God to St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, but it is also a logical way of seeing a mystery in the spiritual order. If Mary only gave birth to the Head of the Church, and not the Body, Montfort said in his writings that this would be "monstrous". No one gives birth to a head without a body. St. Louis-Marie de Montfort also shared another spiritual intuition as regards Mary's role in the End Times, writing that as Christ was born through Mary in Christmas, He will also return in the End Times through Mary.

Returning to the reflection on the Pentecost, we do not anymore see any mention of the Mary in the Acts of the Apostles after Pentecost. It is through the writings of mystics and the Tradition of the Church that tells the story of Mary and the truth of her Assumption into Heaven. Since the apostles were with Mary in that Pentecost event, and there is no biblical text mentioning that both her body and soul were assumed into Heaven, the apostolic communities who knew her began to ask intercessory prayers from her. They prayed in honor of her virtues and graces. This started the tradition of prayer on the Blessed Virgin Mary, and continues to this day through the missionaries of the Church who introduced devotion to her in the cultures of the world.

Catholics know that Mary is not God. She only has a unique, singular, and special role in the Christian faith because she bore the Son of God. By this special role, she is placed above the saints and the angels. Many mariologists (theologians specializing in Marian devotion) say that it is proper to pray "with" Mary or "in the spirit" of Mary, rather than "to" Mary. In praying "with" Mary, Mary becomes part of the community of disciples that prays. This is also the teaching of the missionary communities which St. Louis-Marie de Montfort founded. They teach a devotion to Mary that prays "with" Mary or "in the spirit" of Mary. Recall that in Acts 1:14 the text states that Mary was "with" the apostles in prayer.

Modern theology names Mary, the Mother of God, as the perfect disciple. She is the perfect disciple because of her total trust and confidence in God's will. In Marian devotion, we are called to pray in the spirit of her perfect virtues: obedience, docility to the Holy Spirit, total trust and confidence in God, and deep faith.

Mary is one who leads us to Christ. She is with the Church, encouraging and helping all God's children since the Pentecost event. By the example of her total trust and confidence in God - her 'fiat' - Catholics are also called to place their total trust in God. Whenever Catholics pray the rosary or make a novena in honor of her, Mary shares the spirit of her virtues. In praying the rosary, prayer is done with and in the same spirit as Mary: a spirit of total trust and surrender to God's will, knowing that God wills only what is best for all His sons and daughters. Mary is both Mother of God, Theotokos, and Mother of the Church.

See also: St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), Author of The True Devotion to Mary and The Secret of the Rosary

26th Sunday of the Year (A)

Edited for September 27, 2026: From Sunday reflections Year 2014 (A)

September 28, 2014
Ezekiel 18:25-28
Psalm 25
Philippians 2:1-11
Matthew 21:28-32

"Which of the two did what the father wanted?"

In this parable from Jesus, He tells the story of a father who has two sons. The father owned a vineyard and wanted his sons to work in it. The father ordered his two sons, one after the other, to work in their vineyard. The first son replied "yes", but did not go and do as his father told him. The second son was a direct opposite to his brother. He said "no", but regretted it and decided to go and work in the vineyard. After Jesus finished telling this parable, He turned to those who listened and asked them: "which of the two did what the father wanted?" And the people all replied, "the second son".

This parable, as in the previous Sunday's, can also make an analogy to the reign of God. The father who owns a vineyard with sons who can work in it, is like God who asks us to work in "His vineyard". If we examine our relationship with God, we can see many times when we said "Yes", but failed to obey Him like the first son. But, when we examine our relationship with God again from another perspective, there were also many times when we have said "No", but had a change of mind and heart and went and obeyed Him like the second son: we did as the Lord wanted; to do our part in building His Kingdom.

Examining the parable again more closely, we see the importance of action over one's word. Surely, the ideal is to be men and women of integrity, that is, we "do as we say", or "we walk our talk". Integrity is not cheap. It is the result of a discipline in work and life. But even when we say the wrong thing, or if at first we did not obey what ought to be done, there is always time to have a change of mind and heart. And the second son in the parable shows us that reality of our humanity.

So like the parable of the laborers in the vineyard last Sunday, God does not give up on any of us. He wants all to listen to Him, work in His Kingdom and be saved. He continues to move in ways that we do not recognize at first, but upon deeper prayer and reflection, we see His will and discover ourselves in relation to Him. We discover how we may have been like the "first group of laborers who complained on the wage they received" and the "first son who said 'Yes' but did not go to the vineyard". But we can also discover the many times we are like the "last group of laborers who received a day's wage for working only an hour" and the "second son who said 'No' at first but repented and went to work in his father's vineyard."

The example "par excellance" of this Sunday's gospel is Jesus our Lord. He is the "only Son" who said "Yes" to the Father and went and did His Father's will. We see in the Person of Jesus our Lord that integrity is really not cheap. It cost Him His life on the Cross to be the best example of a Son to a Father for all of us. That is why Jesus instituted the Eucharist so that we may receive His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity - the Bread from Heaven. For it is in the Eucharist that we are strengthened and encouraged to say "yes" and work for our Father's Kingdom as He did by His very example.

Scripture quotes for reflection:
"Good and upright is the Lord; thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, he teaches the humble his way." (Psalm 25)

Notes: The text of the gospel used in this Sunday's reflection is from "The Sunday Pocket Lectionary" which is based on the Confraternity Edition of the Holy Bible. The Confraternity Edition is based partly on the Vulgate, the translation of the Bible text to Latin by St. Jerome. According to a response to a prompt to an LLM, this translation presents the elder son as saying "yes", but not going. If your bible translation is the Douay-Rheims, the Knox Bible, the Challoner Revision, or any text of this parable from the older Catholic lectionaries and missals, then they also relied on the Vulgate text. As for the version of Mt 21:28-32 which has the older son say "no" at first, but then repented and said "yes" to work at his father's vineyard, these are seen in modern Bible translations which relied on the original Hebrew/Greek sources of the text. These variation of the text are seen in such modern Bible translations as the Good News Bible, the Revised Standard Version and the NRSV, the Jerusalem Bible, and the New American Bible.