27th Sunday - Tenants Must Bear Fruit

 

In the first reading God speaks of his love for his vineyard which is Israel. Through Isaiah God described his chosen people, Israel, as a vineyard and declared how disappointed He was that instead of yielding grapes they produce sour grapes. The sour grapes were the result of not attending to the vineyard as they ought. Since through the prophet Isaiah God had already described His chosen people as a vineyard, we can easily understand why Jesus told a parable in the Gospel today where he describes the Church as a vineyard.

In the parable in the Gospel the landowner sent servants many times to collect the produce of the vineyard. But each time the servants were killed. The servants represent the prophets of the Old Testament who suffered for preaching the Word of God by being killed violently. Then the landowner sent his son, Jesus, who was also killed. The landowner took the vineyard from those tenants and gave it to other tenants. The vineyard in the parable is the Church, and so when the vineyard is taken from those tenants (Jewish leaders) and given to others (the apostles, disciples and the Church) it is a symbolic way of saying that the Church would consist not only of the chosen people, the Jews, but all.

From time to time God continues to send us good tenants (saints, martyrs and holy men and women) to encourage us to be good tenants of the Lord’s vineyard (the Church) and to bear fruit. Who are some of the very good tenants of the Lord’s vineyard today?

Pope St. John Paul II gave the world hope and courage and clear Church teachings.

St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta showed us the importance of the corporal works of mercy by helping the world to see Jesus in the poorest of the poor.

Mother Angelica, who someday may become a saint, gave us the spiritual works of mercy by way of the Eternal Word Television Network, providing the Mass, the Rosary and Spiritual programming throughout world day and night.

St. Faustina revealed the Divine Mercy of Jesus in order to prepare the world for the Second Coming of Jesus.

Fr. Emil Kapaun was an ordinary farm boy from Pilsen, Kansas, who died in the Korean War for his fellow soldiers. As a priest chaplain, he anointed dying soldiers on the battlefield and allowed himself to be captured by the enemy to give soldiers spiritual help and encouragement.

In 2020, a 15 yr. old boy, Carlo Acutis, was declared “blessed” in Milan, Italy. In 2018, he was declared “venerable” meaning he practiced heroic virtue. The miracle approved for his beatification was approved by the pope. It involved the healing of a young Brazilian boy afflicted with a rare congenital disease of the pancreas. For three days, the child’s family prayed a novena with a priest who was devoted to Carlo. On the third day, the child said he wanted to eat after days of not being able to eat solid foods, she said. The doctors later discovered he was completely healed.

Blessed Carlo received his First Communion at the age of 7. Since his First Communion, he received the Eucharist every day by devoutly attending daily Mass and would pause for hours in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. He placed the Sacrament of the Eucharist at the center of his life and he called it “my highway to Heaven”.

He wanted everyone to know and love Jesus in the Eucharist, so much so, he developed what later become known as the International Miracles of the Eucharist display. He sought out all the known approved 187 Eucharistic miracles and made a display that has been traveling all over the world.

Our Lady was his great confidant and he never failed to honor Her by reciting the Holy Rosary every day.

Carlo was very gifted with everything related to the world of computers so that both his friends and adults with computer engineering degrees considered him a genius. Everyone was amazed at his ability to understand the secrets of computers normally only accessible to those with specialized university degrees.

When I was hospitalized in Tulsa, Carlo worked, what I call a little miracle with a computer. In every patient room is a computer that the nurses use to document patient records and medications, etc… When the nurse came to my room to give me medicine, she attempted to turn on the computer, but it wouldn’t come on. She tried multiple times to start it, but it wouldn’t. I even got out of bed and tried to start it, but nothing happened. She then went to get a portable computer so she could administer my medication. When she came back, she looked at me and said, “Oh, you got the computer started.” I said, “No, I haven’t touched it since you left. But I prayed to Blessed Carlo Acuti to start the computer and apparently, he started it.” The non-Catholic nurse was shocked and didn’t know what to think.

Carlo’s interests involved computer programming, film editing, website creation, editing and laying out small publications, to helping those most in need especially children and the elderly.

His modern and up-to-date ways combined perfectly with his profound Eucharistic life and Marian devotion, which helped to make him that very special boy everyone admired and loved.

He offered his suffering up for the Pope and the Church.

He once said, “To be always united with Jesus, this is my plan of life”. These few words Carlo Acutis, said outline the distinctive feature of his short life: living with Jesus, for Jesus, in Jesus. (…) “I am happy to die because I lived my life without wasting even a minute of it on anything unpleasing to God”.

He died of galloping leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15 and when his coffin was opened this year, he was found totally incorrupt. He looks as though he is sleeping.

That my friends, is how we can become good tenants in the Lord’s vineyard. To always be united to Jesus, never doing anything to displease the Lord and to do the best we can to be holy by living life of virtue.

As Jesus said, “I chose you from the world to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last.”

Let us strive to love and honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, pray Her Rosary daily and grow in love with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, which, as Carlo said, “is the highway to heaven”.