Today, clearly, the readings have a lot to do with vineyards and vines. Now, growing up in the city of London, England, I didn’t come across many vineyards and so my experience is limited to enjoying their fruits, if you get my drift. But, exploring what the word of God has to say on the topic has helped me understand more why the imagery of the vine and the vineyard is so rich when it comes to realizing how important we are to God.
To begin with, it is important to know that the image of the vineyard is, firstly, used of Israel, the people that God chose to have a very special relationship with. The first reading and psalm, as well as our gospel, all use this imagery in this way. The first reading, from the prophet Isaiah is very lyrical, very poetic. In fact it is described as a “love song”. It shows the land- owner personally investing in the creation of the vineyard, spending much time and money in making sure that the vines have the most advantageous conditions to flourish. But this is a song of disappointed love, The vineyard does not produce the luscious, sweet grapes that the owner expected, only wild, bitter grapes instead. In disillusionment, the owner vows to dismantle all his long, careful work with the vineyard and return it to the bleak wilderness it used to be.
Understanding the image of Israel as a vineyard, and of the owner as God, it becomes clear by the end of the song what the singer is saying to Israel. Their God had also invested so much of himself in choosing Israel as his chosen people, his treasured possession as Exodus 19: 5-6 puts it, and then taking Israel from the wilderness of slavery in Egypt and bringing them and planting them in Canaan, a rich and fertile land, a land “flowing with milk and honey”. It is reminiscent of the story in the opening chapters of the book of Genesis, which describe God building an earthly paradise for our first parents, Adam and Eve, where everything is laid on a plate for them, and they are able to enjoy a close, intimate personal relationship with God. But, just as Adam and Eve were to betray that relationship in disobeying God, so Israel betrays their God also, in becoming faithless to him, and thereby forfeiting that special relationship that God had invited them into.
If that were the end of the story, it would be sad indeed- a lamentation instead of a love song. But like all good love songs, where girl meets boy, both fall in love, then break up, then get back together again, there is a happy ending, which you will have to read in the New Testament. Jesus, in the gospel of John, describes himself as the “true vine” and his disciples, which include you and me, are the “branches”. This makes our relationship with Jesus even more special and intimate than the Old Testament image of a landowner and his vineyard. The very life that runs through Jesus, the life of God, the sap of the Holy Spirit, also runs through us, if we allow ourselves to be grafted onto this vine, which is Jesus. And this life is eternal life, divine life, life in abundance, which begins here on earth with our baptism. Yes, our baptism grafts us into the vine, into Jesus, and if we stay with the vine, abide in it, to use Jesus’ own words, then it will go well with us. To quote Jesus in John 15: 5: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me, and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing”.
And what is this fruit that we are meant to produce? It is first the fruit of bringing souls to salvation by sharing with them the good news of Jesus Christ and having them grafted onto the vine. But it is also the fruit, or fruits, of the Holy Spirit, which St Paul describes in Galatians 5: 22: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness and self-control”. Paul tells us in our second reading today that if we keep focused on growing such fruit in our lives, then we will enjoy the peace of God which, as he says, surpasses all understanding. My favorite psalm, psalm 92, finishes with these words: ”they are still bearing fruit as they get older, they are still full of sap, still green, to show that the Lord is right and true, he is our rock and there is no fault in him” – a great comfort to those who, like myself, will never see 20 again. May we continue, brothers and sisters, as we age, to allow the life of Jesus, the life of God, to flow through us and bear fruit to the glory of God. Amen