The Church of the Holy Vineyard

Throughout sacred scripture the image of the vineyard is one that is most popular.  To be sure Genesis has us planted and cared for in a garden.  And when Adam and Eve sin, they are cast out of the garden.  More often than not the imagery is that we are the caretakers, stewards if you will, of the vineyard.  Isaiah today sings about his friends vineyard.  It is sort of a song of woe since the tenants did not take good care of the vineyard entrusted to them.

What if Isaiah though wasn't talking about a vineyard some three thousand years ago, but talking about the Church today.  A carefully planned and nurtured vineyard becomes an overgrown plot of land yielding wild sour grapes.  We might be set back on our heels a bit.  As Isaiah speaks about the injustice and bloodshed he observes, in some ways that can be our Church.  When we move over to Matthew's Gospel we can contemplate the number of times we as a Church may have rejected the prophetic voice of the scriptures and tradition for something a lot more comfortable.

Two very important Vatican II documents are often overlooked.  One is on the Church in the Modern World, and the other is the role of the laity in the Church today.  Understanding that we have been give the Church as a gift (everything we have is a gift from the Father) we have an obligation to tend to, and nurture, the work and the mission of the Church.  In the first parish I was at, the church emptied into a very large foyer.  The entire rear of the church was separated from this foyer by glass window.  During mass there were always about sixty of seventy people "attending" mass from behind the window.

In our Church today we seem to have lots of folks who are tending to the Church as if from behind a glass window.  If they step inside they might have to participate or take responsibility.  The Second Vatican Council envisioned a learned clergy and laity, working together, to evangelize, catechize, and promote charity and justice in the communities where the Church existed.  Going to Mass on Sundays was meant to be a springboard for making our faith present in the world today.

Some of my most admired saints are men and women like Francis of Assisi, and Catherine of Sienna. In the midst of crisis they took on the responsibility to work towards conversion and discipleship.  Their lifestyle, teaching and proclamations became a stumbling block for many men and women, even Church leaders.  I remember a parish of long ago whereas the Parish leadership commented that the most important activity of their parish were their two parish dinners.  I guess I was expecting them to say the Mass, or our Lenten program, or adult faith formation.

In this vineyard we realize that God has set us as stewards of the mission of His Son.  Which author commented that we should be wearing seatbelts and helmets at church since we are after all invoking the spirit of God.  The Catholic Church should be a moral and social justice hallmark that others strive to imitate.  In and out of our churches we should be a challenge to the popular culture.  In being the imitators of Christ, busy about the vineyard, we can bring about an abundant harvest for the Lord.