Some of us priests are appointed parish priest of a certain parish for a certain period of time. After the time is up, or if the bishop has got valid reasons or certain other reasons, we could be removed from the parish and transferred elsewhere, or given some other task. This is because the parish does not belong to a particular priest or a particular group, and the temporal and spiritual care of the parish could be given to a priest chosen by the bishop according to his discernment and decision. However, we sometimes come across some people who seem to think that the parish belongs to them, and some of them even think that the parish priest belongs to them.
This is the problem which the tenants had in today’s Gospel parable. They thought that the land belonged to them, after probably having lived there for quite a while. The Gospel reminds us that the landowner had only leased the land to the tenants, but these tenants had become too comfortable living on the land and began to treat the land as theirs. When the landowner tried to collect his share of the vineyard, the tenants went against him by ill-treating the landowner’s servants and killing some of the servants, and even killed his son. Eventually, the landowner got rid of the tenants and leased the vineyard to other tenants.
Some of you may be wondering: why were the chief priests, scribes and elders furious and wanted to arrest Jesus? Because as the Gospel tells us, they realised that the parable was aimed at them. They were like the tenants, who had been given a lease to care for the temple and faithfully observe the commandments that God had given to them. But instead of being faithful to their task, they began to think that the temple and the commandments could be manipulated according to their whims and fancies. The prophets had been sent to admonish these people, but they ill-treated these prophets and killed some. Even Jesus, who is the son in the parable, was ill-treated by these chief priests, scribes and elders, and they even tried to do away with Him. Because of this, Jesus warned the chief priests, scribes and elders that they would eventually lose control of the temple and the commandments, and these would be entrusted to others who were more worthy.
What about us? Have we manipulated the church we are in, trying to take control and do things as we please? Have we become like these chief priests, scribes and elders, in danger of losing it all due to our pride, ego, prejudice and stubborn ways? May we change our ways and let God take control, depending on His care and guidance, since we too are merely tenants on this earth, and if we fail to be faithful and sincere in our duties, we may lose even the little we have.