THE KINGDOM OF GOD WILL BE TAKEN FROM YOU AND WILL BE GIVEN TO A PEOPLE WHO PRODUCES ITS FRUITS

Today the New People of God are all of us, that is, we united in His Baptism, which God asks to bear fruit, therefore become fruitful. In this way each of us becomes the guardian and protector of that vineyard, which is our Catholic Church and the local Church in which we are active.

 

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Dear readers of The island of Patmos,

we are all born and raised within a nation and a city. This being together with others has built a bit’ our identity. We have become "I" thanks also to many "You", our fellow citizens. We were then baptized and thus inserted within a particular and general ecclesial community, children of the Catholic Church. We were thus entrusted to a particular community, a local Church made up first and foremost of our family. Today we are adults, we are asked to be those who build and guard the Church. This is the summary of Today's Gospel.

Once again Jesus decides to propose this teaching in parables. So he tells a bit of a parable’ violent, If we want. The owner of a piece of land gives his vineyard to farmers to cultivate it and bear fruit. The time has come to collect the harvest, send several servants: first few, then many. These are killed. Finally the last envoy is killed, that is, the master's son.

At this point Jesus dialogues with the elders and leaders of the people about the fate of these farmers. They offer him an answer that seems clear: upon the return of the same master, the murderous peasants will be punished and killed. Quoting the psalm 118, very famous, Jesus offers them the definitive answer:

"I tell you: the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruits"

Jesus' response is very strong: it will no longer be only the leaders of the Jewish people and the priests who maintain the alliance with God. There will be a new kingdom of God, a new vineyard, therefore a new people of God who will be fruitful and bear fruit.

Jesus therefore comes to lay the foundations of His Church, who will receive and maintain the final and Eternal Covenant, the New and Eternal Covenant between God and man. Therefore a New People of God, which will not coincide exclusively with the circumcised.

Indeed, today the New People of God are all of us, that is, we united in His Baptism, which God asks to bear fruit, therefore become fruitful. In this way each of us becomes the guardian and protector of that vineyard, which is our Catholic Church and the local Church in which we are active. This fruitfulness is achieved in different ways: first of all with the practice of charity and spiritual and material works of mercy. Also the exercise of the theological and cardinal virtues, with others and in communion with God, it is another way of being fruitful. Because fruitfulness and fruitfulness is giving the grace of friendship and God's love to others. The beauty of our faith then asks us to give this grace according to a fruitfulness that is original and entirely our own: therefore we all become fruitful because we are called with our beauty and uniqueness. This is a beautiful way in which God asks us to be part of the Church: neither dominant nor passive but fruitful. Open to God's plan but without becoming robots.

As John Stuart Mill wrote: «All the good things that exist are the fruit of originality».

We ask the Lord to become that new people of God able to enter into silent prayer, listen to the voice of the Eternal You of God, and bring this voice to a world that seeks endless love.

Amen

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 8 October 2023

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