The Vineyard of the Lord

The vineyard was a symbol to Jesus and his contemporaries of the fruitfulness of God’s Kingdom, the joy and peace that comes from living according to the Spirit of the Lord and working together to produce good for everyone, the bounty that is shared with all. This is an image of God’s Kingdom that still speaks to us.

We can consider the earth as the vineyard or garden we have been place in to care for, to enjoy, and to thrive in. It’s a way we can think of God’s Kingdom and our role in it. Pope Francis points out the importance of taking care of our earth in his encyclical “Laudato Si,” and we can do that in so many ways.

In caring for the earth, let’s not forget that we are part of nature. We are part of and affected by the world around us. The extreme weather events we have witnessed this year show us that is true. Our earth is a gift and a responsibility, much like the vineyard Jesus talks about in the gospels.

We live on this earth as members of God’s community of faith. In the Christian community we experience the peace of Christ that brings wholeness and salvation, a peace that comes from God. Its context is the concrete community life that we live, which includes our family community, our friend community, and reaches out from there to the broader human community. In all these contexts we are called to be fruitful.

“The Kingdom of God will be…given to a people that will produce its fruit.” (Matthew 21:43)