The Vineyard
Several of the Jesus parables take place in or around a vineyard. I suggest that a vineyard in scripture represents a fruitful enterprise of working for a finished product that quenches a spiritual thirst. It is also a practical example of human effort that produces one of the great products of life – wine. Making wine is one of the oldest working endeavors for humanity. It is often referred to (including during Mass) as the fruit of the vine. Jesus identifies himself as “the true vine” and us as the branches. He uses wine to identify himself with as a vehicle for his REAL presence during the Eucharist. At the wedding feast at Cana they run out of wine, symbolizing a severe depravity of faith, joy and hope.
But the vineyard is the place where the process of producing takes place. Making wine is one of my favorite images for stewardship. God provides earth, sun, rain, seed and sun. Humanity takes those elements and carefully harvests, arranges for fermenting, crushes, bottles, serves, tastes and enjoys. I suggest we look at all of the resources God has given us and our effort in making them more as the stewardship that God calls us to in all areas of our life.
All resources come from God, and in our partnership with God we enrich life, love, joy, productivity and more.
As Jesus tells the story of the laborers in the vineyard, it is so easy to place ourselves as those laborers. In some endeavors in life, God calls us early and we go to work. In other endeavors, we are called as young adults, then again as more mature adults, and finally in the winter or senior years of life. God is the owner of the vineyard, calling, summoning us not once, but many times. God is more persistent in calling us than we can possibly imagine. However, we can all probably relate to those ‘standing around’ the market place not fully aware that God is calling others to join in a partnership with him to produce fruit and join in the stewardship process. We may be unaware of the deeper meaning to which God is calling us. We may finally enter into a divine partnership late in life, but that should not diminish the importance of our contribution. These are some of the spiritual highlights of the story brought to light by the humans in the story.
One of the morals of the story (there are several) is that a generous vineyard owner does what he wants with his money, and a fair deal that is agreed upon should not be diminished by unfair distribution of payment for labor. More simply put, it is not fair, and more simply applied to our lives, life is not fair sometimes, but God’s generosity and persistence are perennial.
Pastoral Table
Two years ago, with the help and wisdom of Parish Pastoral Council members and our Chair, Mike Myers in particular, I revamped our Parish Council into a Pastoral Table. This was somewhat of a trial endeavor brought about by a desire to have the non-staff leaders in the parish take on a more pastoral role. To me the key aspect of the word PASTORAL means TO LISTEN. We are reconvening a new Pastoral Table this fall in order to listen to feedback and focus on several key initiatives. They include our Adventures in Grace Pilgrimages, the Renew My Church evangelization efforts, the Synod on Synodality that Pope Francis is calling us to develop, our own survey helping to identify our spiritual needs, a strategic plan for our Academy, and the Archdiocesan Disciple Making Index survey that so many of you took the time to fill out.
You will hear more about the progress and structure of the new Pastoral Table later this fall.
Be More
Please take note of the first session of our Be More Ignatian Spiritual Fitness Program during all Masses on Sunday, October 8 followed by a more in-depth introduction to the story, the saint and the spirituality that is St. Ignatius of Loyola who founded the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits.
Fr. Rick McGurn S.J., our neighbor from Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House in Barrington, will give us a deeper appreciation for the life story of this Spanish saint whose spirituality will provide a basis for our entire pilgrimage this year.
Please familiarize yourself with the BE MORE Ignatian Fitness Program by visiting the display in the narthex, visiting our website and, most importantly, attending the five sessions offered throughout the year.
In addition, Mary Whiteside and Deacon Dennis Brown in our Adult Faith Office are always rich sources of information and resources.