God's Vineyard
Today’s readings show us that God lovingly cultivates his people, sends his prophets, and finally sends his own Son, expecting them to bear fruit in justice and faithfulness. His grace brings a calling, and what he entrusts to us calls for a response. We invite you to read more in Fr. Joseph Ruan's latest bilingual Scripture reflection, included below in Chinese and then in English:
Scripture Reflection in Chinese
常年期第二十七主日（甲年）
今天我们庆祝常年期第二十七主日。所宣读的圣经以葡萄园为中心，讲述天主怎样爱护自己的子民，也说明他期待什么样的果实。福音中的恶佃户一再拒绝园主的使者，最后连园主的儿子也被杀害。然而，人的拒绝并没有使天主的救恩计划落空：被弃而不用的石头，竟成了屋角的基石。
福音的比喻从园主的细心预备开始。他栽种葡萄园，围上篱笆，掘好榨酒池，筑起瞭望台，然后把葡萄园租给佃户，就远行去了（玛21:33）。这些细节呼应依撒意亚先知的葡萄园之歌，使人想到天主对以色列子民的悉心照顾。园主先作了充分的预备，才把葡萄园交托出去；他对出产的要求，建立在先前的照顾与托付之上。
葡萄园属于园主，佃户受托耕种和管理，并不因此成为葡萄园的主人。到了收成的季节，园主派仆人来收取应得的出产，要求佃户履行约定。然而，佃户却殴打一个，杀害一个，用石头打死另一个。园主再派别的仆人，他们仍遭到同样的对待（玛21:34-36）。佃户一再用暴力拒绝园主的使者，也拒绝承认园主对葡萄园的权利。
比喻中的仆人使人想到天主历代派遣的先知。他们传达天主的圣言，呼唤子民忠于盟约、实行正义，却屡遭拒绝和迫害。园主再次派遣仆人，显出天主持续的呼唤；佃户坚持抗拒，则显出人不愿接受天主的圣言，也不愿结出他所期待的果实。
最后，园主派遣了自己的儿子，心想他们会尊敬他（玛21:37）。儿子的到来，把比喻推到了紧要关头。他与先前的仆人不同：他是继承人，与园主有着独一无二的关系。在这里，耶稣启示了自己的身份和使命——他就是父所派遣的圣子。
佃户认出这是继承人，却彼此商议，要杀害他、夺取他的产业。他们把他推出园外，杀了他（玛21:38-39）。这段叙述预示耶稣将遭到拒绝，并使人想到他将在耶路撒冷城外受难。佃户以为杀了继承人就能占有葡萄园，这一举动却暴露了他们的企图：摆脱园主的权柄，把受托管理的葡萄园据为己有。他们拒绝儿子，也就拒绝了派遣他的园主。
耶稣接着问：园主来到时，会怎样处置这些佃户？司祭长和长老回答，他会严厉惩罚那些恶人，把葡萄园另租给按时交纳出产的佃户（玛21:40-41）。他们承认园主有权追究佃户的责任，却也在回答中说出了针对自身的警告：领受托付的人，必须向托付者负责。
耶稣随即引用圣咏，指出匠人弃而不用的石头，反而成了屋角的基石；这是上主的作为，在人眼中神妙莫测（玛21:42；参咏118:22-23）。这句话使比喻从儿子的死亡，进一步指向基督的复活。人拒绝了耶稣，天主却使他成为救恩的基石。人的罪恶造成真实的伤害，也必受到天主的审判；然而，天主仍在基督内为人开启救恩的道路。
因此，耶稣宣告：天主的国要从“你们”手中夺去，交给能结果实的百姓（玛21:43）。这里的“你们”，直接针对司祭长和民间长老。经文强调的是领受托付者的责任，以及天国子民应当结出的果实。宗教身份和传统地位，都不能代替对天主的忠信。天国是天主的恩赐，领受这份恩赐的百姓，蒙召接受基督、遵行天父的旨意。葡萄园仍然属于天主，受托的人必须按照他的心意照顾它。
读经一进一步说明，天主所期待的果实究竟是什么。依撒意亚先知描述园主的悉心照顾：葡萄园位于肥沃的山冈，土地经过翻耕，石块已经除去，种下的是精选的葡萄树，瞭望台和榨酒池也都齐备（依5:1-2）。园主期待葡萄，结出的却是野葡萄。于是他痛心地问：为自己的葡萄园，还有什么该做而没有做的呢？（依5:4）这句问话邀请耶路撒冷和犹大的居民作出判断，也让他们看清自己的责任。问题出在葡萄园辜负了所领受的照顾，没有结出应有的果实。
先知最后把比喻点破：万军上主的葡萄园就是以色列家，犹大居民就是他所钟爱的幼苗。上主期待正义，看见的却是流血；期待公平，听见的却是冤声（依5:7）。希伯来原文在这里运用了读音相近、意义截然不同的词语，使这份反差格外鲜明，也显出子民的生活与天主的期待相距何等遥远。
天主所期待的果实，是合乎盟约的生活：人的生命受到尊重，受压迫的人得到公正的对待，弱小者的呼声有人聆听。正义与公平，是子民忠于天主应有的表现。流血与冤声则表明，他们的实际生活违背了所领受的盟约。
至于撤去篱笆、拆毁围墙、任凭荆棘丛生，则是先知宣告的审判：天主将撤去保护，让子民面对背弃盟约的严重后果（依5:5-6）。园主悉心照顾葡萄园，也期待它结出应有的果实；子民若持续背弃盟约，就必须为自己的选择负责。
读经一与福音同样以葡萄园为背景，重点却有所不同。依撒意亚责问葡萄园为何结出野葡萄；耶稣则揭露佃户如何拒绝园主的使者和儿子。两篇经文共同指出：天主悉心照顾自己的子民，也要求他们以忠信的生活回应他的恩典。
在读经二中，圣保禄劝斐理伯的信友，在一切事上怀着感恩，以祈祷和恳求把自己的需要告诉天主（斐4:6）。他劝信友不要忧虑，是邀请他们在困难中学习信赖，把真实的挂虑带到天主面前。祈祷使人承认自己的需要，感恩则使人记得已经领受的恩典。信友在恳求中依靠天主，也在感恩中确认他的眷顾。
天主所赐、超越人理解的平安，将在基督耶稣内守护他们的心思意念（斐4:7）。“守护”带有警卫守城的意味：这份平安像卫兵一样看守人的内心，使人身处困境，仍能依靠基督。困难未必立即消失，人却可以在天主的临在中获得力量，继续忠信地生活。
今天的圣经让我们看见：天主以爱栽培自己的子民，派遣先知，最终派遣自己的圣子，并期待他们结出正义与忠信的果实。他的恩典带来召叫，他的托付也要求回应。
我们的生命、时间、能力，以及家庭、工作和教会中的责任，都需要我们怀着感恩善加运用。我们怎样使用这些恩赐，怎样对待交托给我们的人和事，正显出我们是否忠于天主。
Scripture Reflection in English
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
Today we celebrate the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture readings centre on the vineyard, revealing God’s loving care for his people and the fruit he expects them to bear. In the Gospel, the wicked tenants repeatedly reject the owner’s servants and finally kill his son. Yet human rejection does not defeat God’s plan of salvation: the stone rejected by the builders becomes the cornerstone.
The Gospel parable begins with the owner’s careful preparation. He plants a vineyard, puts a fence around it, digs a winepress, builds a watchtower, and then leases it to tenants and goes away (Mt 21:33). These details echo Isaiah’s Song of the Vineyard, recalling God’s attentive care for the people of Israel. The owner makes every preparation before entrusting the vineyard to others; his claim to its produce follows from the care he has given and the responsibility he has entrusted to them.
The vineyard belongs to the owner. The tenants are entrusted with cultivating and managing it, but this does not make them its owners. When harvest time arrives, the owner sends his servants to collect the produce due to him, expecting the tenants to honour their agreement. Instead, they beat one servant, kill another, and stone a third. When the owner sends other servants, they receive the same treatment (Mt 21:34–36). The tenants repeatedly use violence to reject his messengers and refuse to acknowledge his rights over the vineyard.
The servants in the parable recall the prophets whom God sent throughout Israel’s history. They proclaimed his word and called his people to covenant faithfulness and justice, yet they repeatedly faced rejection and persecution. The owner’s sending of further servants reveals God’s persistent call; the tenants’ continued resistance reveals humanity’s unwillingness to receive God’s word and bear the fruit he expects.
Finally, the owner sends his own son, believing that they will respect him (Mt 21:37). The son’s arrival brings the parable to its decisive moment. He is different from the servants who came before him: he is the heir and stands in a unique relationship with the owner. Here Jesus reveals his identity and mission: he is the Son sent by the Father.
The tenants recognise the heir, but they plot to kill him and seize his inheritance. They throw him out of the vineyard and kill him (Mt 21:38–39). This anticipates Jesus’ rejection and recalls his coming suffering and death outside Jerusalem. The tenants imagine that killing the heir will give them possession of the vineyard. Their action exposes their intention: to escape the owner’s authority and claim as their own what was entrusted to their care. In rejecting the son, they also reject the owner who sent him.
Jesus then asks what the owner will do to these tenants when he comes. The chief priests and elders answer that he will punish those wicked men severely and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver its produce at the proper time (Mt 21:40–41). They acknowledge the owner’s right to hold the tenants accountable, yet their answer also pronounces a warning against themselves: those entrusted with responsibility must answer to the one who entrusted it to them.
Jesus then quotes the psalm, declaring that the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful in human eyes (Mt 21:42; cf. Ps 118:22–23). These words lead the parable beyond the son’s death towards Christ’s resurrection. Humanity rejects Jesus, but God makes him the cornerstone of salvation. Human sin causes real harm and is subject to God’s judgment; nevertheless, God continues to open the way of salvation through Christ.
Jesus therefore declares that the kingdom of God will be taken from “you” and given to a people who will produce its fruit (Mt 21:43). Here, “you” directly addresses the chief priests and the elders of the people. The passage emphasises the responsibility of those entrusted with God’s gifts and the fruit that the people of his kingdom must bear. Religious identity and inherited status cannot take the place of faithfulness to God. The kingdom is God’s gift, and those who receive it are called to welcome Christ and do the Father’s will. The vineyard still belongs to God, and those entrusted with it must care for it according to his purpose.
The first reading explains more fully what fruit God expects. Isaiah describes the owner’s attentive care: the vineyard lies on a fertile hillside; the soil has been dug, the stones removed, and choice vines planted. A watchtower and winepress have also been prepared (Is 5:1–2). The owner expects good grapes, but the vineyard yields wild grapes. In sorrow, he asks what more he could have done for it (Is 5:4). His question invites the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah to judge for themselves and recognise their responsibility. The vineyard has failed to respond to the care it received and has not produced the fruit it should have borne.
The prophet finally explains the image: the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his cherished planting. The Lord expects justice but sees bloodshed; he expects righteousness but hears cries of distress (Is 5:7). The Hebrew text uses words that sound similar but have sharply different meanings. This makes the contrast especially striking and reveals how far the people’s lives have departed from God’s expectations.
The fruit God expects is a life faithful to his covenant: human life is respected, the oppressed receive justice, and the voices of the vulnerable are heard. Justice and righteousness are the proper expressions of the people’s faithfulness to God. Bloodshed and cries of distress reveal that their conduct has violated the covenant they received.
The removal of the hedge, the breaking down of the wall, and the growth of thorns express the judgment announced by the prophet: God will withdraw his protection and allow the people to face the grave consequences of breaking the covenant (Is 5:5–6). The owner has cared attentively for the vineyard and expects it to bear good fruit. If the people persist in their unfaithfulness, they must answer for their choices.
The first reading and the Gospel both use the vineyard as their setting, but their emphasis differs. Isaiah asks why the vineyard has produced wild grapes; Jesus exposes how the tenants reject the owner’s servants and his son. Together, the two readings show that God cares attentively for his people and calls them to respond to his grace through faithful living.
In the second reading, Saint Paul urges the Philippians to bring their needs before God in prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, in every circumstance (Phil 4:6). His exhortation not to worry invites them to learn trust amid difficulty and bring their real anxieties before God. Prayer acknowledges their need, while thanksgiving recalls the grace they have already received. In petition they depend on God; in thanksgiving they recognise his care.
The peace God gives, surpassing human understanding, will guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). The word “guard” evokes soldiers keeping watch over a city. This peace watches over the heart, helping believers continue to rely on Christ even in difficult circumstances. Their troubles may not disappear immediately, but in God’s presence they can find the strength to remain faithful.
Today’s readings show us that God lovingly cultivates his people, sends his prophets, and finally sends his own Son, expecting them to bear fruit in justice and faithfulness. His grace brings a calling, and what he entrusts to us calls for a response.
Our lives, our time, our abilities, and our responsibilities in the family, at work, and in the Church all call for grateful and faithful stewardship. How we use these gifts and care for the people and responsibilities entrusted to us reveals whether we are faithful to God.
Fr. (Joseph) Guozhang Ruan was born and ordained in China. After serving in parish ministry in the Diocese of Mindong, Fujian, he pursued advanced studies in moral theology in Rome, earning a doctorate from the Pontifical Lateran University. Since coming to the United States in 2004, he has served in several parishes in the Archdiocese of New York. He is currently the Director of the Chinese Apostolate for the Archdiocese of New York and Parochial Vicar of Holy Rosary Church on Staten Island. His ministry focuses on serving Chinese Catholics, promoting evangelization, and fostering greater understanding between the Church in China and the universal Church.
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