The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone
Isaiah 5:1-7
Philippians 4:6-9
Matthew 21:33-43
When a good parent threatens a child with punishment because of its misdeeds, it is not because the parent takes pleasure in punishing. On the contrary, the parent hopes that the child may change conduct so that the parent may not have to punish. If the child actually changes for the better, the parent is pleased, and may even reward the child for the improvement. Good parents are only a deem reflection of God the best parent. Whenever God warns us with hash punishment, God only does so in the hope that we may amend our conduct and enjoy God’s favors.
The first and gospel readings of today are parables in which God threatens to punish his people for the failure to bear good fruit. God is compared to a friend of the prophet Isaiah who did everything possible so that his vine may bear fruit, but instead, the vine bore sour fruits. God is the landowner who entrusted his vineyard to tenants and provided whatever is necessary, and whose messengers received maltreatment from the tenants instead of the fruits they were expected to deliver.
The Responsorial Psalm is named as such precisely because it is a divinely inspired part of scripture given to us by God so that we may understand the word of God well and have the appropriate response to it. The first stanza recalls all the good God did for his nation. “A vine from Egypt you transplanted; you drove away the nations and planted it. It put forth its foliage to the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.” The second stanza recalls the misfortunes that befell Israel on account of not bearing the fruit God intended from his vineyard: “Why have you broken down its walls, so that every passer-by plucks its fruit, The boar from the forest lays it waste, and the beasts of the field feed upon it?” The last two stanzas are a prayer that God relents and restores. “Once again, O Lord of hosts, look down from heaven, and see; take care of this vine, and protect what your right hand has planted, the son of man whom you yourself made strong… Then we will no more withdraw from you; give us new life, and we will call upon your name…”
We are all called to bear good fruit. A parent bears good fruit in the raising of disciplined, God-fearing children. A teacher bears fruit by passing on, not just knowledge but also morals, through word and example. A priest bears fruit through leading souls to salvation. A civil leader who is dedicated unreservedly to the good of the people bears good fruit. What kind of fruit does God expect from you in your specific circumstances?
I would like to end with a quotation which Jesus makes towards the end of today’s gospel. “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes. It is a question which every believer in Jesus Christ must ask herself or himself: as I go about my daily life, as I build up my present and my future, how much attention am I paying to the cornerstone which is Jesus? For my attention or lack of attention to this cornerstone determines whether my life turns out to be a disaster or whether it becomes a beautiful work of God, a marvel in everyone’s eyes.
