Reading 1 Is 5:1-7
Let me now sing of my friend,
my friend’s song concerning his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside;
he spaded it, cleared it of stones,
and planted the choicest vines;
within it he built a watchtower,
and hewed out a wine press.
Then he looked for the crop of grapes,
but what it yielded was wild grapes.
Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I had not done?
Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes,
did it bring forth wild grapes?
Now, I will let you know
what I mean to do with my vineyard:
take away its hedge, give it to grazing,
break through its wall, let it be trampled!
Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
but overgrown with thorns and briers;
I will command the clouds
not to send rain upon it.
The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his cherished plant;
he looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed!
for justice, but hark, the outcry!
Responsorial Psalm Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
R. (Is 5:7a) The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
A vine from Egypt you transplanted;
you drove away the nations and planted it.
It put forth its foliage to the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Why have you broken down its walls,
so that every passer-by plucks its fruit,
The boar from the forest lays it waste,
and the beasts of the field feed upon it?
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
O LORD, God of hosts, restore us;
if your face shine upon us, then we shall be saved.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Reading 2 Phil 4:6-9
Brothers and sisters:
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Keep on doing what you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be with you.
Gospel Mt 21:33-43
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
“Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking,
‘They will respect my son.’
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
‘This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?”
They answered him,
“He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times.”
Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore, I say to you,
the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”
Catholic Fundamentalism Interpretation:
The Loving Programmer is my friend. He had downloaded a special place on the Earth Program for the people He loved, (downloaded from Noah, Abraham, and Jacob.
He made sure that the special download had everything that His most beloved human programs would need.
Then, The Loving Programmer looked to see what they had produced from the plenty that He had downloaded for them. There was not good produce, they were mostly like wild grapes, small, bitter, and mostly comprised of inedible seeds.
Now, you human programs of my beloved Judah, decide which is more important, Me or the physical entities I have programmed and downloaded for you. Was there anything lacking for you to do well and prosper? Had I omitted to provide you anything?
So, why aren’t you obedient to My Operating Instructions? Why do you prefer your errors to seeking My perfection?
Now, I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do to you whom I have downloaded. I am going to take away all password protection. I am going to erase the spam filters. I will let anyone who wants have access to that which I downloaded especially for you.
It will become an environmentalist’s delight, neither pruned nor cultivated. It will be overgrown with those who are worse than disobedient, they will be people as hard as thorns and briars. Worse, I will alter the My (cloud) programs so that they won’t shower you with blessings (rain on it).
My vineyard is the Twelve Tribes descended from Jacob. My favorite vine in My vineyard is the house of Judah. I looked for obedience and love, but instead of that, found that you preferred murder and death. I looked for justice, but heard the outcry against your injustice!
R. The Loving Programmer’s vineyard are the Twelve Tribes.
The Loving Programmer transplanted His vines from Egypt. He drove nations out of the land He provided for His vineyard. His vineyard spread to the Sea and the Nile.
R. The Loving Programmer’s vineyard are the Twelve Tribes.
Why have you disobeyed His Operating Instructions so that anyone passing by can take a piece of His vineyard? You are so filled with error that you can’t even keep wild pigs and animals from destroying what you’ve been given.
R. The Loving Programmer’s vineyard are the Twelve Tribes.
Once more, O Loving Programmer of all, look down from Programming HQ and see what’s happening. Take care of this vine (Judah, alone?) and protect what Your Right Hand (Jesus Christ, The Program in perfect, obedient, human form, has planted, He Whom You gave strength.
R. The Loving Programmer’s vineyard are the Twelve Tribes
(If You help us, one more time) we won’t abandon You and Your Operating Instructions. Restore our human programs, and we will worship You. O, Loving Programmer, restore our human programs! If You look lovingly on us, our programs will be cleansed from error and restored.
Fellow believers, stop worrying about anything. Instead, ask incessantly for The Loving Programmer to provide the assistance your human programs need.
Then, you will better understand that He is the Programmer of all, that you are a beloved program, and you will have peace that passes all understanding, you will be protected by Jesus Christ, The Program, Himself, Who took perfect, obedient, human form and came to earth.
Your goal, fellow programs beloved by The Loving Programmer, focus your thoughts everything that is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious.
If there is any (such thing as) excellence, and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about them, and use them as rungs to bring yourselves closer to The Loving Programmer.
Keep on doing what I have taught you, by word and deed.
Then, your program will operate so efficiently that you will not have to reconcile your life with your errors. The Loving Programmer’s peace will be yours.
Jesus (The Program, Who took perfect, obedient, human form and came among us) gave the important religious, political, and secular people another parable (drawing heavily from the Prophet Isaiah, which was the first reading and well known to His audience)
“There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, and did everything for it that Isaiah said that He did.
Then, He leased it to tenants, and went away.
When it was time for the harvest, He sent His representatives to see if there were any souls worthy of being saved.
But, the tenants seized the Prophets. One, they beat. Another, they killed. They stoned a third.
Again, He sent other servants, more than the first time. The people treated them the same way.
Finally, He sent His Son (His Beloved Program, The Fullness of Being), and thought they would respect what they would know was His Son.
But, when those who would not obey The Operating Instructions saw The Son, they decided to kill Him so they could take over everything.
They arrested Him, threw Him out of The Temple, out of Jerusalem, itself, and killed Him.
What will The Loving Programmer of the vineyard and everyone it it do to those tenants when He comes among them?”
The leaders gave the same answer they’d have given if that had happened to their own properties and sons, “He will kill those evil men painfully and let other tenants lease the vineyard.”
Jesus then said to them, “Did you read in The First Programming Log, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, this is what The Loving Programmer did, and it is wonderful for us to see?
Because of this, I tell you that all good things that The Loving Programmer has downloaded will be taken from you, and given to a people who will Obey the Loving Programmer, because obedience and love are the spiritual fruits for which He searches.”
