Vatican City, 5 October 2014 (VIS) –
“Today the prophet Isaiah and the Gospel employ the image of the
Lord’s vineyard. The Lord’s vineyard is his 'dream', the plan
which he nurtures with all his love, like a farmer who cares for his
vineyard. Vines are plants which need much care”, said the Holy
Father in his homily during the Holy Mass celebrated this morning in
the Vatican Basilica to inaugurate the Third Extraordinary General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on “Pastoral challenges to the
family in the context of evangelisation”.
“God’s 'dream' is his people”,
continued Francis. “He planted it and nurtured it with patient and
faithful love, so that it can become a holy people, a people which
brings forth abundant fruits of justice. But in both the ancient
prophecy and in Jesus’ parable, God’s dream is thwarted. … The
temptation to greed is ever present. … Greed for money and power.
And to satisfy this greed, evil pastors lay intolerable burdens on
the shoulders of others, which they themselves do not lift a finger
to move. We too, in the Synod of Bishops, are called to work for the
Lord’s vineyard. Synod Assemblies are not meant to discuss
beautiful and clever ideas, or to see who is more intelligent. They
are meant to better nurture and tend the Lord’s vineyard, to help
realise his dream, his loving plan for his people. In this case the
Lord is asking us to care for the family, which has been from the
beginning an integral part of his loving plan for humanity”.
“We are all sinners and can also be
tempted to 'take over' the vineyard, because of that greed which is
always present in us human beings. God’s dream always clashes with
the hypocrisy of some of his servants. We can 'thwart' God’s dream
if we fail to let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit
gives us that wisdom which surpasses knowledge, and enables us to
work generously with authentic freedom and humble creativity”. The
Holy Father concluded, “to do a good job of nurturing and tending
the vineyard, our hearts and our minds must be kept in Jesus Christ
by 'the peace of God which passes all understanding'. In this way our
thoughts and plans will correspond to God’s dream: to form a holy
people who are his own and produce the fruits of the kingdom of God”.
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