Is. 5:1-7; Ps 80:9, 12-16, 19-20; Phil. 4:6-9; Mt. 21:33-43
“Keep on doing what you have learned…received…heard…and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you” says St. Paul in the scripture. Paul is being an imitator of Christ and we are all called to live in imitation of Christ. An imitator in this aspect is not a poser who acts one way in front of others to see but in his heart harbors sinful thoughts. An imitator is one who is being transformed to be another Christ in service of God. We become another Christ when we keep on doing what God commands of us.
In the gospel today Jesus reveals in a parable what is about to happen to the Israelites who have rejected him and seek to kill him. They have become posers of the word having established many laws but lost the true sense of God’s law. Jesus warns them that God will take away his kingdom from them and give it to a people who will produce fruit. This people will be imitators of Jesus the “cornerstone” rejected by the Jewish religion. Jesus is the cornerstone of Christendom and we are the people trusted to keep on doing the will of God through Him, with Him and in Him.
The will of God is a calling and we have a choice to keep on doing the will of God and bear fruit or repeat history and become simply posers, Christians by name and tradition but living by our desires. How do we know the difference? Examine the “fruit” of our lives. The “fruit that will remain” lives on in the lives of others. The difference we make by being imitators of Christ in love, sacrifice, charity, and mercy is the type of fruit we are called to produce. What difference have we made is the difference between heaven and hell.
We are creatures of habit, once we develop a habit it becomes hard to change and the more we repeat it the more ingrained it becomes. In other words, we are transformed by our habits into the person we become. If we keep on doing the things that solely bring us pleasure, produce greater power in our lives, and help us receive recognition from the world then we belong to the world and the fruit we bear will not last past this world. Keep on doing what God commands at first seems difficult but by the grace of God there is a conversion of who we are to be who Christ is calling us to be.
St. Paul names a few of the habits to follow, “whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious…anything worthy of praise” of God keep on doing these things. Then the peace of God “will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”. God will give us a new life and not withdraw from us “and we shall be saved”. What’s it all about? It’s about God, about heaven and hell, about all eternity.
This is the day that sets in motion for tomorrow. That is why what we are living today has been determined by our yesterdays. If we keep on doing what has failed us in the past then it is destined to be repeated. Keep on doing the will of God and even greater things will come. Life is always in a state of motion, which direction it goes now depends on our next action. Keep on doing what is right and the kingdom of God will open up to even greater things.
Jesus is the cornerstone of our life. The psalm reveals that the house Israel is the vineyard of the Lord but Isaiah prophesizes that the Lord’s vineyard has produced wild grapes. All his investment in the vineyard of the house of Israel has not given the fruit he desires. He desired “judgment and justice” but these wild grapes have brought about the “bloodshed” and “outcry”, it is the bloodshed of Jesus and the outcry to crucify him. It leads God to ask “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?” Looking at the history of salvation is a sad commentary on humanity that repeatedly has rejected God but not all.
God has provided for kings, rulers, priests, and prophets and the people have “neither heeded the voice of the Lord, God, nor followed the precepts which the Lord set”. Is the world any different today than in all history? Jesus came and his word has spread to the ends of the earth. It has spread because Jesus sent his disciples out with the power of his name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bend yet rebellion prevails in the hearts of many. Sin remains the greatest pandemic that brings death and destruction.
Faith is an exercise that requires constant movement in the direction of God. This is having a mind of excellence, where we recognize God is working for our salvation in all and through all and we are listening and responding to his call. “Keep doing what you have learned and received” from God through prayer and petition and through his Church and his servants with thanksgiving for all you have received. Let our hearts not be troubled. When God is with us who can be against us?
Finally, a famous quote by St. Francis of Assisi says, “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” The impossible comes from God who makes up for what we lack and makes all things possible. Amen.
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