WHAT FRUIT ARE YOU BEARING?

Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43

There is something striking about the imagery of a vineyard which runs through the readings of this Sunday. In the Gospel passage of last Sunday, Jesus spoke about two sons whom their father sent to work in the vineyard. Today, he speaks about tenants entrusted with a vineyard. The question therefore continues to be about what we do with what God has entrusted to us.

In Isaiah, God is presented as the owner of a vineyard who has done everything necessary for it to flourish. He cleared the land, planted the choicest vines, built a watchtower and prepared a winepress. Naturally, he expected good grapes. Instead, the vineyard produced wild grapes (Is 5:1-4). Isaiah then reveals the meaning of the image. “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel” (Is 5:7). God had cared for his people, but he expected their lives to produce justice and righteousness.

Jesus takes up this same imagery in the Gospel. The landowner carefully prepares his vineyard and entrusts it to tenants. When harvest time comes, he sends servants to collect his produce. But the tenants beat some, kill others and stone others. Finally, the owner sends his son, thinking they will respect him. Instead, they kill him as well (Mt 21:33-39).

The meaning is clear. God has entrusted his vineyard to his people as stewards and tenants, but the tenants begin to behave as though the vineyard belongs to them. They forget that they are stewards, not owners. The servants represent the prophets whom God repeatedly sent to call his people back to faithfulness. The son points to Christ, whose rejection and death stand at the centre of the Gospel.

This message is not only about the religious leaders of Jesus’ time. It is also about us. God has entrusted each of us with something. He has given us life, faith, relationships, abilities, opportunities, possessions and responsibilities. The question is not simply whether we have received gifts, but whether those gifts are producing fruit for God. 

What kind of fruit is God finding in our lives? Is there love, forgiveness, generosity, justice, honesty and compassion? Or are there resentment, selfishness, pride and indifference? The vineyard may look healthy from the outside while producing little fruit.

This is where St Paul’s words become important. He tells the Philippians to fill their minds with what is true, honourable, just, pure, lovely and worthy of praise, and then to put these things into practice (Phil 4:8-9). Christian life is not merely about having good intentions. What we cultivate within eventually becomes visible in how we live.

Therefore, we are invited to recover the humility of stewardship. What we have is entrusted to us, not given to us for ourselves alone. One day, the Master will ask what we have done with his vineyard. May our lives not disappoint the One who has cared for us so generously. May we bear fruits worthy of the trust he has placed in us, so that when the Master comes seeking his harvest, he will find in us the fruits of faith, love and righteousness.