Homily on Matthew 21:33-44, Syro- Malabar, The Fourth Sunday of great Fast (Sunday the 23rd of March,2025)
Praise be to Jesus Christ
A poor man was given a small house to live in. His landlord was a kind-hearted and God fearing man and allowed him to stay for free. He was asked only to keep the house clean and take care of the small garden. At first, the poor man was very grateful, but as years passed, he began to think that the house should be his. He thought, “I have lived here for so long, I have taken care of the garden, I did not pay any rent, and the owner of the house has got another house and he is rich, so I deserve to own it.” A few years later, when the owner of the house sent someone to ask him to vacate the house to build a house for his daughter, the poor man became upset and got angry, raised his voice, and even did not allow him to enter inside the house. He even filed a case against the owner saying that he has harassed his wife. However, the owner won the case and threw him out. The man forgot that no matter how long he stayed, the house still belonged to the owner.
This is what we see in today’s Gospel. Jesus speaks about vineyard and tenants and the tenants in the story were given the land to work, but they forgot they were only caretakers and they wanted to own the land in an unjust manner. When the landowner sent his servants, they mistreated them. When he sent his son, they killed him, thinking they could take the land for themselves and enjoy it for ever.
The key word in this passage could be “possession.” The workers thought that by chasing the servants of the owner and killing the son of the owner, they could possess the vineyard. But they forgot one truth that what belongs to the master will always remain his and he has the power to put them out.
This is not an old story, but this tendency to claim what does not belong to us is deeply rooted in human nature. What was the nature of our first parents; Adam and Eve? God gave them everything that they were in need of, but they wished more. They desired what was not theirs, and what they could never get, and this led to their fall.
It might be good that each one of us examine ourselves whether we have the same nature of the tenants; trying to take what is not ours? If we are not faithful and punctual in our work and office activities, if we are not properly paying taxes or electricity bills, we are showing the same nature as the tenants. Our nature is to justify our small acts of dishonesty, thinking that because we have worked hard, we deserve more than what is rightfully ours.
But when we look the lives of saints they understood the real fact that we are here on earth are only care takers, Saint Francis of Assisi, for example, was a man of great wealth but gave it all away, saying, “It is in giving that we receive.” He knew that true riches do not come from possessing things but from belonging to God.
This passage also has a deep spiritual meaning. As Christians, we belong to Jesus. When we are not taking effort to lead a holy life, we are misusing ourselves, just like the tenants who forgot their role as caretakers. Our life, our talents, our faith and everything what we have, is a gift from God. So we need to keep always in mind that ‘we do not own them, but we are entrusted with them. St. Paul in his letter to 1st Cor 7:23, says that “we are brought with a price,” so we belong to the one who brought us that is our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is same with our family lives. God has given us our life partners, our husband or wife. We do not own them, but we are entrusted with them to care for, love, and respect. A husband who mistreats his wife or a wife who disrespects her husband is like the tenants in the Gospel. They forget the fact that love is a sacred trust, not something to be controlled. Parents also must see their children as a gift from God, not as their property. Children, very especially once they are grown up, in turn, must honour and respect their parents and need to take care of them properly. When we fail in these duties, we act like the tenants who refused to give the master his due.
Let us pray: Lord, our Heavenly Father, help us to be faithful in our daily lives so that we may take care of everything entrusted to us and carry out the will of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, each day. Amen.
