Sunday the 4th of October 2026 - The Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 5:1-7/ Ps 80(79)/ Philippians 4:6-9/ Matthew 21:33-43
Just days before Germany invaded Poland in 1939 initiating the second world war, Pope Pius XII made one last desperate appeal. It was a plea from a man who could see what was coming, his words, ‘Nothing is lost with peace, everything may be lost with war’ were not heeded. The rest is history, with devastation, death, and injury across Europe. Pope Pius XII could be considered a prophet because it was exactly what Isaiah warned about seven hundred years before Jesus. God, Isaiah said, looked at His vineyard, and waited for justice, but saw bloodshed. Humanity does not learn from history, the same tragedy repeats itself again and again. A world is given everything it needs for peace but ends up reaching for the sword. The readings today question why this is and point us to where real peace comes from.
The first reading paints an image of a vineyard on a sunny hillside. It speaks poetically of God’s disappointment in the fruits produced after He had lavished so much care over it. The soil had been dug and cleared of stones, the finest vines had been planted, a watchtower erected, and a wine press awaited the harvest. Everything looked ideal but when the owner came to taste the fruit, the grapes were sour and wild. The owner asked what more he could have done for his vineyard. Isaiah was speaking to Israel, but his message is for us as well. God made the world we live in, and He made it good, but something went wrong. Through humanity's ‘no’ to God, sin entered creation and spoiled what was made to be perfect. We see its sour fruit all around us, wars and disputes between nations, exploitation of the poor and vulnerable, and contempt for human life at its beginning and at its end. As Isaiah said of the vineyard, God looks for justice and righteousness but sees bloodshed. Nothing has changed it seems. The psalm has the same message turning it into a prayer calling on God to turn again, look down from heaven and protect His vine.
In the gospel passage, Jesus echoes the message of Isaiah. The chief priests and elders knew it well, they were the chosen people, the people through whom God would redeem the world. They had ignored the prophets God sent, one after another. Now the owner had sent His Son expecting them to respect him. Instead, the tenants throw him out of the vineyard and kill him. Jesus predicted His own fate. Within days, He would be led outside the walls of Jerusalem and crucified. The Son and heir, sent to care for His Father's vineyard, would be rejected by the people He came to save. The lesson is that faithfulness to the will of God produces abundant good fruit while infidelity can only result in wild sour fruit. Wild grapes come from vines cut off from their source. When we read these passages and consider the life of Jesus, the message seems clear, but the world continues to ignore it. We can prefer ambition to humility, hatred to love, war to peace, and infidelity to faithfulness. The world failed to listen then and often fails to listen now.
How can it be that after so much suffering, we still reach so quickly for weapons to solve perceived threats? The Church teaches us that peace is the tranquillity of order, the work of justice and the effect of charity. Peace grows from hearts that have been set right with God. Peace is not simply an absence of war it is a deep and profound love shared universally and unconditionally. The gospel passage does not end in despair with the death of the son and heir. Jesus reminds us that the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. The rejected and murdered Son rose again. God does not abandon His vineyard, through the cross He brought resurrection, and from the ruins He built something new. That is why Saint Paul can write to the Philippians with such confidence. He wrote from prison but tells his readers and us not to be anxious about anything, making our requests to God in prayer and thanksgiving. Then the peace of God, which is beyond our understanding, will guard our hearts and minds.
When the news overwhelms us, when we look at the world and feel helpless, this is our answer. We might not be able to end war, but we can refuse to let anxiety rule us. We can hand our worries to God in prayer, we can tend the small corner of the vineyard entrusted to us. Paul tells us that through practicing whatever is true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious, the God of peace will be with us. Peace in the world begins with peace in our homes, our workplaces, our words, and our forgiveness. This is how we can start. Each evening, call one worry, one anxiety, to mind, placing it in God's hands with thanksgiving. Then think of one person with whom we can choose peace instead of conflict and act on it.
At mass we bring the fruit of the vine, the work of human hands to the altar. Jesus makes it perfect changing it into His own blood, the blood poured out when he was rejected. Jesus is the true vine, when we receive Him, His life flows into us. Let us receive Jesus asking that our lives may bear the good fruit that God longs to find in us. Let us listen to God’s call, see his labour within and around us, let us respond to the love, and attention lavished upon us so that we will produce the abundant fruit that God works so hard for.
God Bless Brendan