Sunday, October 8, 2017

October 8, 2017: 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The extended metaphor of a vineyard in the first reading and Gospel reading paints a great picture for how God cares for us so graciously.  So it's no surprise the owner is disappointed when such tender loving care doesn't produce good fruit, just as God is disappointed when we don't respond with faithfulness to His care.

God bestows upon us His righteousness, compelling us to bear fruit for His glory.  The Jews were unfaithful in bearing fruit because they were stuck in their own ways.  And so God opened up the vineyard to others, the Gentiles, who abided in His righteous ways and have born fruit for His glory--like the tax collectors and prostitutes who responded to the message calling for repentance, as Jesus mentioned in last weekend's Gospel.

Let us seek to produce good fruit as we focus on those things of highest quality, like St. Paul lists in the reading in Phillippians, thinking about honorable, just, lovely, and excellent things, that we offer ourselves up for His Glory.  Then we shall overcome the anxieties of this life, truly knowing the peace of God that is beyond our comprehension, but which keeps us secure in relationship with Him.

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