WELCOME TO ST AGNES ECCLESTON

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today, the Gospel presents us with a dramatic parable that has a sad ending (cf. Mt  21:33-43). A landowner planted a vineyard and took good care of it. Then, needing to go away, he entrusted it to some tenants. When harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to collect his crop. But the tenants maltreated and killed them. So, the owner sent his son, and those tenants killed him too. How come? What went wrong? (…)

With this parable, Jesus reminds us what happens when people deceive themselves into thinking that they are self-made, and they forget to be grateful, they forget the real basis of life: that good comes from the grace of God, that good comes from his free gift. When one forgets this gratitude to God, one ends up facing one’s situation and limitations no longer with the joy of feeling loved and saved, but rather with the sad illusion of needing neither love nor salvation. These people stop letting themselves be loved and find that they are prisoners of their own greed, prisoners of the need to have more than others, of wanting to stand out over others. This process is ugly, and it often happens to us. Let us think about this seriously. Many dissatisfactions and recriminations, many misunderstandings and many feelings of envy arise from this. And, driven by resentment, one can fall headlong into a spiral of violence. Yes, dear brothers and sisters, ungratefulness generates violence, it takes peace away, and makes us feel and yell when we speak, without peace, while a simple “thank you” can restore peace! (Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 October 2023)