The owner of a vineyard must be dedicated, hard-working, and patient. It is truly back-breaking work and a test of love and devotion to produce good grapes. That’s how God was with His vineyard, the people of Israel. However, they rebelled against God and lost their sweetness, turning into wild or dirty rotten grapes. (Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43)
Today, God has a new vineyard—the Church. He has done even more than He did for Israel, cultivating and watering the soil with the blood of His son. He has done everything He can hoping we will absorb what He has put into His vineyard and produce a crop of sweet, juicy Christians. Let us do what we can to prune away our pettiness, arrogance, and self-seeking pleasures so as to make God proud of His vineyard.
- Father Carl
“Christian faith and ethics do not wish to stifle
love, but to make it healthy, strong, and truly free:
this is the exact meaning of the Ten Commandments
which are not a series of “noes” but a great “yes” to
LOVE and to LIFE.”
~ Pope Benedict
