Gospel: Mark 12: 1-12
We have been conditioned to look upon the parable of the tenant farmers as a triumphalistic tale wherein God's kingdom is taken away from the Jewish people due to their lack of faithfulness and given to the new Israel, the Church. This story has much deeper applications that apply to all people of all times and places and is not primarily a polemic between two groups.
Throughout scripture the vineyard is an image of one's soul, a place God has created and cultivated as a dwelling place for himself. This vineyard has been entrusted to us so that we might cultivate it and make it fruitful. Instead, we have neglected it, ignored the counsel and visitations of God through other people, and even that of the Lord Jesus himself as we seek to blame others for the disrepair of our vineyard. Seen in this light, the parable gives us much to ponder about our own lives.
But if we insist on seeing this from an institutional perspective, the church has much to ponder on its own stewardship of the vineyard. Has it helped others to be more merciful and loving in their lives, or has the vineyard become a place of bitter grapes where power, influence, and wealth are the measures of success? The parable is not a polemic against others but rather a call to reflect on our own stewardship as tenants leasing what is not our own.
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