Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 5:1-7
Philippians 4:6-9
Matthew 21:33-43

The large blue bin for recyclables in my garage stands next to shelves of things I might someday use. It makes me very aware of my resolution to reduce, reuse and recycle. Long ago I asked my family not to give me anything larger than a bread basket so I’m doing pretty well at reducing. The big blue bin makes recycling easy. It’s reusing that gives me trouble. I don’t have the imagination of my artist sister who could make art from a barrel of trash or the enthusiasm of garage scavengers who will pursue a coffee liner for a pot no longer manufactured. Perhaps it is these constant reminders of my own wastefulness that causes one line in today’s Scripture to catch my attention. “The very stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Ours is a God who sees infinite possibility in each of us.

Both the first reading and the Gospel speak about a vineyard. The story is similar in each of the readings. We quickly identify the vineyard with the plan of the Father to bring about the kingdom.

Isaiah’s narrative is in the form of a ballad. He sings of his friend, but the song has a sad ending. Like the Gospel, this is a story of love not returned. The Gospel, though, brings hope in Jesus Christ. The vineyard will “yield a rich harvest.” The readings taken together help us understand that the rich harvest comes because of God’s persistence rather than because of our fidelity. It comes because God sees the possibility.

The world, like the vineyard, is filled with potential and promise. Like the landowner, God has given his creation all it needs. Because he trusted us, he did not tell us how to do the task. Like the good mentor, he left the job to us. God—like the landowner—entrusted it to us as the landowner entrusted his vineyard to the tenants.
Like the son in the Gospel story, Jesus was rejected, set upon, and killed. Still, the Father’s love persisted and the one who was slain continued to love those who scorned him.

The kingdom plan was not abandoned. It was directed to a still wider community. “The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone of the structure.”

Throughout the Old Testament, God continually reached out to his creation to bring it to completion. He formed a people and offered them everything possible so that they might bring his plan to fulfillment. When he was rejected, he did not abandon his plans. He sent his Son to make the offer again even more strongly and lovingly. St. Paul knew the history of God’s promise. He understood why those who had a history of turning their backs on the Lord might well be concerned about their future. To calm believers, he points them to the Lord. He tells them not to be anxious.

At this liturgy, we focus once more on the reason for our hope...the Lord whose activities are “marvelous to behold.”

We give thanks and praise to the Father who continues to use the most unlikely instruments to bring about the kingdom.