HOMILY SUNDAY 27-A

Producing the Fruits of the Kingdom

(Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43

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The following quip actually fits the readings for today: The alcoholic’s problem is not that, in his false pride, he thinks, “I am very special.” Nor is it that, in false humility, he thinks “I am a worm.” The alcoholic’s problem is that, in his addiction, he is convinced: “I am a very special worm!”

“The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.”

These devastating words by Jesus in the gospel, addressed to the Jewish religious leaders who thought they were so special, carry a very important message for us today: the kingdom of God has been given to us, and we are to produce the fruits of the kingdom that above all else are ways to love.

The readings today are all about the specialness of Israel as the Chosen people of God and how they squandered that specialness through their infidelity.

Isaiah tells the story of God’s feelings towards Israel, his vineyard. They were chosen to be the icons of God’s presence here on earth, the beginning of a new creation. He chose them while they were at the bottom, in slavery; delivered them from Egypt, cloud by day and fire by night, led them across the sea, gave them the Law, fed them in the desert, travelled with them in a tent, gave them leaders like Moses and Joshua, and later, land, prophets, judges, kings – they had it all, but they blew it.

As God laments in the first reading, “what more could I have done for my vineyard? I expected a rich yield of justice and righteousness, but got wild grapes, bloodshed and a cry instead.” What happened, as early as their idolatry at Mt. Sinai, was that they were tempted, fell for and followed the false gods of possessions and pleasure, prestige and fame, power and control. One could say they were addicted to these false gods. It became so bad that at one point, the glory of God, the Shekinah, lifted up and left the Temple.

The parable about a vineyard that Jesus relates in the gospel echoes this bitter disappointment of God found in Isaiah, only now Jesus adds more gravity, pointing out to the chief priests and the elders of the people how their ancestors actually persecuted and even killed the prophets sent to teach and guide them. They had turned all that God had given them and God’s hope for them, into a self-serving, legalistic, judgmental and corrupt political and economic religious system. They had allowed their specialness to turn into an attitude of superiority and smugness.

It is significant that the glory of God had not returned to the temple when it was rebuilt. That is perhaps why the Pharisees became so dominant – they believed that if they kept the law perfectly, then maybe the glory of God would come back to the temple. That attempt to make one’s self holy through human effort is actually a heresy, one of the reasons Jesus was so upset at them.

In the time of Jesus, the court of the gentiles had become a market-place where the poor were forced to purchase their sacrifices at inflated prices. The commerce was so noisy that the gentiles could not worship God there. No wonder Jesus cleansed the temple in anger and told the leaders that the kingdom of God would be taken away from them and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.

That situation persists to this day. I experienced a taste of it while in Jerusalem. After a Sabbath service, we went to the home of an orthodox Jewish family living on the third floor of an apartment building. Despite my bad knee, we had to walk up three floors because to push the elevator button would have been work on the Sabbath. We could not take a picture of the family nor call a cab, because that would have been work on the Sabbath, so the kids escorted us a few blocks away where we could find a cab. In our hotel, a Sabbath elevator stopped on every floor so that no button had to be pushed. It would take forever to get to our floor, so we never used that elevator.

This kind of externalism and legalism, instead of making people holy, distracted them from the law of love that is at the heart of the kingdom of God that Jesus came to inaugurate. Because he was rejected, crucified and killed, like the many prophets before him, the kingdom now has been given to us, along with the charge to bear the fruits of the kingdom.

Those fruits are keeping the commandments that Jesus gave us. We are to love God with our whole being; to love all other people by caring and sharing, as we love ourselves through self-worth and self-esteem; to love one another as Jesus loved us (a very high bar indeed); and finally, to love our enemies by forgiving them from the heart.

St. Paul, in the second reading to the Philippians, describes other fruits of the kingdom. We are not to worry, only trust God in everything, focus on what is true, honorable, just, pure, be pleasing to God, do what is commendable, be grateful and peaceful – all this is bearing fruit in the kingdom of God.

Actually, the shekinah, or glory of God, did return, not to the physical temple that would be destroyed, but upon the apostles at Pentecost in the form of wind and tongues of fire, and the Church, the new Israel, was born. Within this, our specialness, we must careful that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the religious leaders at the time of Jesus, and allow our specialness to become smugness. We are always to strive to produce the fruits of the kingdom, to love.

Sometimes we see a fellow Catholic attend church every Sunday, yet visibly carry anger and a desire for revenge towards those who might have hurt him or her, even decades ago. I feel disappointed, angry and sad when I witness that, because that is to fall into the same trap as the religious leaders over the centuries, and is not producing the fruit of the kingdom.

One Saturday evening, after the Eucharist, Sacred Heart Parish in Edson, where I was replacing, put on a pot-luck supper to raise funds for the family of a young girl, Kendra, who is struggling with a rare life-threatening disease. Over 250 people bought tickets; many people cooked plenty of both western and Philippino dishes, and organizers worked hard to plan this event. Everyone enjoyed the entertainment, learning more about Kendra’s struggle and visiting with each other. The joy in the room was palpable. By that initiative, this parish was truly living in the Kingdom of God and producing the fruits of the kingdom.

The Eucharist is a kingdom banquet that helps us produce the fruits of the kingdom. We are loving God back with our worship, receiving God’s loving forgiveness in the penitential rite, and loving others as we worship together.

May our celebration free us from any addiction to false gods, and empower us to produce the fruits of the kingdom: love for God, others, ourselves, even our enemies and all of God’s creation.