TENANTS, NOT OWNERS
INTRODUCTORY RITES
Gather as a family/ community; create an environment appropriate for prayer (dress appropriately - switch off your phones...).
We are conscious that Christ is present not only in the Blessed Sacrament but also in the Scriptures and in our hearts. Even when we are on our own, we remain part of the Body of Christ.
Place lighted candles, a crucifix, and the Bible on a covered table. These remind us of the sacredness of our time of prayer and could help us feel connected with our local worshipping communities.
You may sing or play an appropriate hymn. For instance:
The Sign of the Cross
Greeting and Introductory Words
L: The Lord invites us to the table of his Word: let us bless him for his goodness.
A: Blessed be God forever.
L: God has entrusted this world, his creation, to us as a vineyard in which we are to work to bear fruits of justice and love. But we behave as if we own this creation; we forget that we are tenants and stewards. The readings warn us that if we fail to care for creation through a transformation of our attitude, culture, and policies, God will take his vineyard away from our care.
We ask the Lord, the Owner of the Vineyard, for the grace to remember our calling as tenants and stewards, to produce fruit of good vintage, and to care for his creation.
Penitential Rite
L: For the times we have acted as owners of creation and have destroyed it through our arrogance and selfishness, we ask the Lord to have mercy on us.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you have entrusted to us this earth as a vineyard; we have neglected it:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you have entrusted to us people to care for with love;
we have remained indifferent to them:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you have entrusted to us our faith as a plant to grow; we have cared little for it:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
Gloria
Opening Prayer
L: Yours, O God,
is the vineyard and its harvest,
yours the kingdom of justice and peace.
Bless the work entrusted to our hands,
that we may offer you
an abundance of just works,
a rich harvest of peace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
A: Amen.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
The readings are those assigned for the day in the Lectionary.
Preferably use a Bible/ Lectionary for reading.
Reading 1 Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm Psalm 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
Response Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Reading 2 Philippians 4:6-9
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
I have chosen you from the world, says the Lord,
to go and bear fruit that will remain.
Gospel Matthew 21:33-43
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine listening to Jesus as he tells the chief priests and elders the parable of the wicked tenants. What are your thoughts and feelings when you hear about them?
With whom do you identify yourself: the owner, the tenants, the servants? Why?
Sunday Snippets
The angel Gabriel returned from surveying the earth, and reported to God: “You own a choice piece of real estate called earth. But the tenants to whom you’ve leased it are destroying it. They have polluted your rivers; fouled the air; degraded the soil; destroyed the rain-forests… In another few years, it won’t be fit to inhabit. By any rule of sound management, you have one option.” Raising his trumpet to his lips, Gabriel asked: “Shall I sound the eviction notice?”
God said: “No, Gabriel! Not yet. You are right, but I keep thinking if I give them a little more time, they’ll quit acting like they own the place!”
The readings of today
- portray us as tenants of God’s vineyard, and remind us not to act like we own the place.
- highlight God’s generosity and trust: he provided everything the people needed—fertile land, hedge, winepress, tower—to produce a good vintage.
- tell us of God’s patience: he sends his servants several times to collect the produce, and finally sends his son.
- remind us that God’s justice will prevail: the people yielded “wild grapes” (first reading); they refused to hand-over the produce, and treated the servants and the son violently (gospel). He finally evicts the tenants: “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”
We are tenants. God has given us a mission to accomplish. He has provided the means and the freedom to accomplish the mission in a most amazing “vineyard”! But we behave as if we own the vineyard…
- whether we see the vineyard as nature and environment: we destroy rain forests, cut through hills/mountains for “development”; pump in sewage and untreated waste into rivers and seas; release toxic substances into the air from vehicles and factories; waste water, fuel, and electricity.
- whether we see the vineyard as the Church and the world: we change commandments, liturgical norms, and rules of morality.
- we are intolerant of anyone questioning us; we do not want to be accountable.
Do I care for creation, or do I ruin it though my selfish and materialistic consumerism? What kind of fruit do I bear: “wild grapes” or grapes of good vintage? Do I hand over the produce to God, or do I act like I own the vineyard?
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: What can I do to overcome the ecological crisis? What can I do to rectify other wrongs?
Reading 2: St Paul says: “Have no anxiety at all…”! Am I able to make my requests known to God and then surrender everything to him? Do I “keep on doing” what my faith and the Church teach me?
Gospel: How can I somehow be God’s messenger in my family, community, work, church, and the world? How do I care for God’s vineyard, and especially his creation? What is the ‘proper fruit’ that Jesus expects from his followers today?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: United with our Lord Jesus Christ as branches of the life-giving vine, we ask the Father for everything that the Church and the world need as we pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church, gathered in Synod: that by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit this journey will be marked by humble listening, courageous speech, and lively hope, we pray…
R: For the world: that nations will join in addressing the crises that are impacting God’s creation and work to preserve our common home, we pray…
R: For all who are ill: that God may give them strength to face their illness, speed the assistance that they need, and fill their hearts with peace, we pray…
R: For a healing of the earth: that God may draw us to a personal ecological conversion and inspire us to act boldly in addressing climate change, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that we may be grateful that the Lord has made us tenants and respond to his love by bearing good fruit, we pray…
L: God our Father, may we become what you have called us to be: your vineyard, your holy people, who respond to your love in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A: Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
The Lord’s Prayer
Spiritual Communion
A: Jesus, I know and believe in your real presence in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is you I desire to love and receive above all things. As I am unable to receive your sacramental presence now, come and be with me in heart and soul. Let my entire self be united with you as I welcome you again and know your loving embrace. Amen.
Post Spiritual Communion Reflection
Master of the vineyard,
you have given us a fertile vineyard to care for,
and everything we need for this task.
But we have polluted and destroyed your vineyard:
we have caused floods and fires
through selfishness and short-sightedness;
we have biases and are intolerant of others.
Lord,
help us find ways to repair and rejuvenate
our vineyard, our common home,
and our relationship
with our brothers and sisters who share it.
Help us to sow and nurture
whatever is true, whatever is honourable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
on our magnificent planet,
and in the human family that lives here.
May we remember that our fruitfulness
comes not from our work,
but from the work of your Spirit in us.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: Lord God, our Father,
you ask of us today:
What more could I have done for you?
Help us to respond with our whole being
to your daily forgiveness and patience,
to the riches of life brought us by Jesus,
to the prompting of the Holy Spirit,
that we may bear lasting fruit.
Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
Blessing
L: The Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and lead us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
L: Go in the peace of Christ.
A: Thanks be to God.
Conclude with a hymn. For instance:
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