The greedy dog of Aesop’s Fables fits today’s gospel narrative of the greedy tenants. The fable of The Dog with a Bone, tells of a greedy dog that got hold of a bone and, in bid to enjoy the bone alone, decides to run as far away as he could. His flight finds him on a bridge over a stream, where he looks and sees his reflection and decides it’s another dog with a much fatter bone. He goes in pursuit of the “shadowy bone.” His own bone falls to the bottom of the river. Now, he has no bone.
Similarly, the wicked tenants of today’s gospel out of sheer greed and vicious degeneracy lost their jobs and their lives, just like Aesop’s greedy dog. But it wasn’t only the tenants of today’s gospel who turned hopelessly greedy. We who live in modern society, in bid to drive God out of our lives, our families, our schools, our public squares, and to declare unlimited freedom to enjoy uninhibited pleasure, have rather succeeded in inflicting pain and hopelessness to our existence. We, too, have lost our bone!
Today’s parable is among the line of parables that scholars categorize as “juridical parables” in which a prophet tells a story intended to draw judgment on the hearer(s) unto themselves. Recall Prophet Nathan’s story of the “Ewe Lamb” that a rich man forcibly took from a poor man to entertain his guest. Through his response, David unwittingly drew judgment upon himself about his adultery and murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 12). The response by Jesus’ hearers to the enquiry asking their opinion about the proper measure to be taken by the owner of the vineyard in response to the wicked tenants, drew from them, in their own words, their own condemnation. In this case the answer that the evil tenants will be put to death and the vineyard leased to other tenants applies to them (the scribes and Pharisees) and all who are reckless with God’s gracious gifts.
We hear in today’s readings about the inevitability of judgment. Isaiah prophesies in the first reading that the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel (or the Church). Vatican II calls the Church “a cultivated field… the tillage of God,” and teaches: “On that land the ancient olive tree grows whose roots are the prophets and in which reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles has been brought about and will be brought about again. That land, like a choice vineyard, has been planted by the heavenly cultivator. Yet the true vine is Christ who gives life and fruitfulness to the branches, that is, to us, who through the Church remain in Christ, without whom we can do nothing” (Lumen Gentium, 6). It’s not only the world which has refused to listen to God’s prophets and murdered and thrown His Son out of the vineyard. Even in Christian circles, the use of religion to bolster one’s ego and for monetary gain is part of the ‘dislodged gospel.’ As religion turns into big business with celebrity evangelists milking their flock out of every cent to maintain a life of luxury, the Lord’s vineyard is dramatically turned into a miracle mill. Our own Church is not spared either: from the highest to the lowest, alternate ecclesial bodies and teachings which seek various compromises with error emphasize only a part of the truth, forcing their way into the Church. Seeking a Christ of their own making, a political theology that emphasizes mercy without conversion, love without responsibility, and inclusion without structure is being advanced in tolerance and total vindication of evil.
But the true gospel land, the vineyard of the Lord, is an upside-down world where the lowly are the strong, the impoverished are the exalted, prestige and esteem are trifles; rather, integrity, kindness and compassion are supreme virtues. It is a topsy-turvy world where the powerless are brought to the table while the mighty tarry in a wasteland. As the pride of life, of power and pleasure seeks to wreak the Christ-principle within us, the words of St. Paul in the second reading—that we insist on whatever is pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, and worthy of praise (Phil 4:8)—should be strongly reaffirmed.
Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo