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The parable concludes with a new covenant, a new church, a new vineyard being introduced to Israel. Please allow your imagination to travel a little bit off the gospel. If the tenant farmers entertained each and every messenger sent by the owner; if the tenant farmers gave sufficient respect to the son, do you think there would be a new vineyard? Do you think there would be a new covenant? Do you think the love of God would be shown? Certainly not.
What I am trying to say is that the message of the gospel is this: that we ought to give thanks for the sins of the tenants. It motivated the mercy of God. During the Easter vigil, we say, “Thanks to the happy fault of Adam because if Adam did not sin, then we would not have Jesus Christ coming to us. Oh, happy fault!”
The reading is saying that not all those who get hurt become grouchy and uncaring. Some people become more beautiful and more pleasant despite their woundedness. That is how God is. He was hurt and hurt badly but this hurt did not lead Him to be vengeful.
It could be the same with us as well. Every sin that we commit could be an opportunity to suffer despair. But every sin could also be an opportunity to hope in the mercy of God. Not all who get sick die. There are illnesses that on account of our contracting them help us develop better general resistance to other microbes and bodily infections. For instance, the chicken pox and measles viruses, after invading our bodies, help us develop a stronger immune system. In other words, we become stronger persons after the sickness.
Sin is bad, naturally. But sin could also become an occasion of grace for us, If we are hurt or get stepped on, we need not react by cursing. There are those who get stepped on and can completely shrug off the hurt and say, “Ok lang. There are those who get hurt and see no need to retaliate or seek revenge. Again, they can shrug it off and say, “OK lang.” The truth of the matter is a negative situation that comes our way does not necessarily call for a negative reaction from us.
CRISIS… OPPORTUNITY
Mt 21:40
Jesus In My Heart
