Remember the Covenant of Love

Dear Friend,

The Gospel we hear this weekend carries forward Jesus’s confrontation with the religious leaders (“priests and elders of the people”). As was the case last week, we have a parable that begins with bright promise and very quickly devolves into violence, murder, and chaos. The trouble in the vineyard from last week is this week’s trouble at the wedding feast.  

Most scripture scholars agree that profound agony over the Roman army’s destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 (A.D.) looms behind these stories. And it’s true of both parables that over centuries, careless and even spiteful interpretations have contributed to antisemitism amongst Christians. It bears repeating that the target of these parables is a group of chief priests and Pharisees and certainly not the Jewish people.

From my own perspective – based on long exposure to the Franciscan tradition - invitation and not destruction is at the center of this week’s story. God’s outreach will always be met by a fallible and inconsistent response. When the refusal to see the goodness of God – which is a common good - is perpetuated by self-serving leaders, the resulting widespread infection can be disastrous. The long experience of prophetic presences in the Jewish community giving voice to a God who is relentless in the outpouring of mercy also looms behind these parables. Come back, they cry, remember the covenant of love.   

Francis had directly faced the brutality of war and tasted the bitterness of turning away from others. Yet the document known as Francis’s Testament is charged with a repeated refrain acknowledging God’s giving, inviting, and offering.  God leads him to lepers, gives him brothers and sisters, teaches him a greeting of peace. How can you and I – in word and action – be instruments of God’s invitation today?

Gratefully,

Father Dan Lackie ofm, Pastor