Psalm Reflection: The Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle A

“The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.” - Psalms 80

Robert was the best man at my wedding and is one of my best friends. He is also a sommelier, which is basically a wine expert. His passion, knowledge, and ability to explain the world of wine is fascinating to me. I love sitting with him when he has a glass of wine and asking him to analyze it out loud and teach me everything about it. I greatly admire his passion and knowledge of what he does.

Sommeliers have the incredible ability to taste a glass of wine and tell you exactly what winery it is from and what year vintage it is. They can taste the subtle nuances in the type of grapes used, the acidity of the soil they grew in, and even the differences attributed to the climates of the region they were grown. There is so much care, attention, detail and passion to the craft.

Is all makes me wonder, do I have that same passion or knowledge about anything?

My relationship with my wife certainly comes to mind; she is someone I probably know better than anyone else on the planet does. I know everything about her, I can often predict what she will say or do, and I can tell what she is thinking often without her having to say it. I am sure she could say the same things about me.

Maybe you have a spouse, a best friend, or someone in your family you know like that.

But, what about God?

Our relationship with God is the single most important relationship we will ever have, because that relationship determines our eternal destiny. Every other relationship, no matter how deep it is, and every other passion, no matter our expertise, will eventually end. So, we should have at least the same level of devotion to God, right?

The Responsorial Psalm this week gets its verses from Psalms 80, but the response is actually from a passage in Isaiah 5 entitled The Song of the Vineyard.

Isaiah’s prophetic parable comes at a time roughly 500-700 years before Christ, when the kingdom of Israel had split due to division, sin, corruption and idolatry. God was sending prophets to warn the people of their destructive ways to encourage them to repent. God warned that the consequences of their sins would lead to their destruction, which inevitably happened and led to the temple being destroyed and the people being taken into exile.

As one of these prophets, Isaiah was specifically sent to prophesy during the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1). Isaiah’s prophetic words often came with criticism toward these rulers of Jerusalem for not leading the people to obey God and His laws, but instead allowing or even encouraging them to turn to idolatry.

The Song of the Vineyard in Isaiah 5 says that the vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5:7), but that vineyard has borne no fruit. In fact, it says that the vineyard has yielded rotten grapes (Isaiah 5:2). As a result, Isaiah prophesies that the walls of the vineyard will be torn down and the vineyard will become wild and be ruined. 

In the Gospel for this Sunday (Matthew 21:33-43), Jesus offers His own vineyard parable to point out the exact same corruption of Jerusalem’s leadership, and the judgment they will receive for not using the positions God gave them well.

All of this is to show that those who profess belief in God, especially those in leadership, need take the responsibility of their position seriously. By virtue of our Baptism, we all have a responsibility to respond to live out and spread the Gospel message. If our lives do not look different because of our relationship with God, then we are doing something wrong. If we are letting sin and selfishness get in the way, then we are yielding rotten grapes.

Brothers and sisters, we have been given a huge responsibility, and those of us who cause scandal to others or who fail to answer the call to share the Gospel with those the Lord has led to us will have to answer for those things. What needs to change?

What if our greatest passion in life was getting our relationship with God right? 

What if you let God completely change your life? What would be the hardest thing to let go of or to say yes to?

Do you trust that God has your greatest possible good in mind and already knows how He will bless you?

What is keeping you from passionately pursuing the Lord at this very moment?

When a person falls in love, they want to know everything there is to know about the other person, have new experiences together, and they are willing to change their lifestyle and behaviors in order to be with this person. We make sacrifices in order to make room for others and bring those we love into our lives. 

Fall in love with the Lord, and do these things in your relationship with Him. Know everything there is to know about the Lord and pursue Him passionately, like a spiritual sommelier. When you do, the vineyard of your heart will begin to bear incredible, abundant and supernatural fruits.

I am praying for you, please pray for me, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt

This reflection is based on the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, October 8th, 2023, which is The Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle A: Psalms 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20.