27th Sun in Ord Time Oct 4 Saint Joseph's University
“The Lord keeps this House Spotless into eternity!"
Let me now sing of my friend, my friend's
song concerning his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside;
he spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines;
within it he built a watchtower, and hewed out a wine press.
Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes.
Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard: What more was there to do for my vineyard that
I had not done?
Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?
Now, I will let you know what I mean to do with my vineyard:
take away its hedge, give it to grazing, break through its wall, let it be
trampled! Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or hoed, but overgrown with thorns and briers;
I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it.
The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his cherished plant;
he looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed! for justice, but hark, the outcry!
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
R. (Is 5:7a) The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
A vine from Egypt you transplanted;
you drove away the nations and planted it.
It put forth its foliage to the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Brothers and sisters: Have no anxiety at all,
but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to
God. Then the peace of God that
surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
gracious, if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and
heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be with you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I have chosen you from the world, says the Lord,
to go and bear fruit that will remain.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to
the chief priests and the elders of the people:
"Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking,
'They will respect my son.'
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.'
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
They answered him,
"He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times."
Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit."
27th Sun in Ord Time Oct 4,
2026 SJU Evening Masses
Vineyards
have been producing good grapes for thousands of years especially for
landowners who pay devoted attention to their care. So vineyards were a good choice both in the
first reading and in the gospel just read as images for God’s people. The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah in our first
reading uses the vineyard image to state that God takes good care of His people
but, despite God’s care, God’s people are like vineyards that yield sour grapes. And
then in the gospel Jesus has this to say: God’s people are like tenants in a vineyard who
steal from God, the landowner. They
steal the good grapes that have been produced, even killing God’s son to carry
out their thievery. Such images remind
us of how we human beings can make a mess of God’s attempts at the formation of
good and healthy human societies..
We
pause here for a one-liner: Our vineyard
images remind us of what people busy in vineyards are good at doing: They are good at whining.
First:
Some sour grapes in today’s human culture
Second: Jesus as the foundation for a new culture
Third: How our own University relies on Christ as
our foundation
We
are now at the beginning of October, a month when the universal Church focuses our
prayer and attention on two types of sour grapes among the many related
troubles in our worldwide culture. The
Church chooses the whole month of October to focus prayers and actions on the
protection of life. Our Christian belief
in the dignity of our God-given human life fills us with a desire to protect
such life from the moment of conception until natural death.
Today’s
culture, however, so often ignores that protection with the practice of
abortion and the practice of those choosing to end their lives at a time when their
minds and bodies seem to betray them. In
refusing to respect life we take good and living grapes and decide that they
are sour and not worth keeping.
But
to add to our attention this October Right to Life month begins just as
the Church completes what we call the Season of Creation. That season each September honors God’s gift
of all creation in our world and recognizes the human misuse of creation that
has created swift changes in our climate.
The Season of Creation began on September 1 and ends today, October 4,
on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
Francis preached about the glory of all living things in God’s creation
and today we celebrate this feast on the day that is the 800th
anniversary of his death. In more recent centuries especially our lack
of care for creation is creating sour grapes for us.
Our
vineyard readings today encourage us to consider a culture of good grapes. On such vines sit our own desires to support
the Right to Life and our own hopes for the steadiness of the natural world in
all the Seasons of Creation. But to add
to the vineyard image Jesus offers another image in today’s gospelreading that gives
his own support to our hopes and desires.
Jesus
provides this second image after he discusses the vineyard. Here Jesus builds on the story of the murder
of the son of the vineyard owner. Here
Jesus, the Son of God, speaks of his own life after his own murder. He predicts what is to happen. Jesus puts it this way. “The stone which the builder rejected has
become the cornerstone.” God’s crucified
son returns to bring about a fresh world.
The risen Christ with us becomes
a cornerstone, a building block. His
person becomes the foundation of something new. The Jews in Jesus’s day often thought of the
Torah, the law, as the foundation of their faith. And with Jesus as a fresh and personal foundation
for faith, his summary of the law in the Torah survives as “Love of God and
love of neighbor.”
What
is a cornerstone? Before the fabrication
of metal structures, the cornerstone of any stone building was carefully
chosen. The base stone, which is placed at
the corner of two walls at right angles to one another, needs a ninety degree
outer angle. Such a stone, too, needed
weight bearing strength to support one of the four corners of the
building. Jesus tells us that though he
was rejected, he will rise again as the cornerstone of a new community of
faith, hope and love carrying his Jewish background into the new era.
Foundation
images like this often show up in religious culture. For example, Muhammed in speaking of his
importance to Islam uses a similar building block image. He speaks of himself as a vital brick that
fills in an empty space in the wall of the house that had been built already by
the Abrahamic prophets.
Finally: You will be happy to know that we here at
Saint Joseph’s University will very soon be celebrating the 100th
anniversary of the blessing of the cornerstone for our first building here in
Overbrook. That building, now-named Barbelin,
made it possible for SJC to move here from our previous location in North
Philadelphia. On November 13, 1927 the cornerstone
was blessed. You can see the stone
itself at the City Ave opening of the central walkway through Barbelin.. I
hope we can mark the 100 years by gathering at that stone next year on November
13, 2027
The
stone is inscribed: “The Lord keeps this home spotless until eternity.” And the Arch in part supported by the
cornerstone over that walkway entrance is also inscribed: “May the Lord bless your entrance and your
departure”, a blessing to frame any student’s years of education here. On their day of graduation Graduates often
have their photograph taken as they walk out under that arch into the
challenges that await them in the post-graduation world. Jesus Christ blesses their departure.
If
a student here you might be more familiar with another use of that key word cornerstone
that Jesus utters. Most students here are engaged in some way in
the Cornerstone Course Requirements, the Cornerstone Core Curriculum that helps
provide the human formation for the life that lies ahead, that life of men and
women for and with others. Our messy world
of disregard in so many ways for the dignity of life and for the integrity of
the natural world needs the service of our students.
The
person of Jesus Christ supports our Church and our University, His preaching of love of God and love of
Neighbor guides us every day, even when we need reconciliation. May we build our own lives recognizing Jesus
as our personal cornerstone supporting and inspiring our faith, hope and love.
And,
remember, too, that in our prayers with Jesus, he will listen to us even when
we are whining.
