27th Sunday Ordinary Time – Year A
Fr. Joonbin Lim
Preached: October 5, 2026
In today’s Gospel, the tenants beat and kill the servants sent by the landowner. Finally, they even take his son, throw him out of the vineyard, and kill him. In the Bible, the vineyard represents God’s people, whom God loves and cares for. The servants remind us of the prophets God sent to His people, and the son represents Jesus Christ.
As I reflected on this Gospel, I began to think about betrayal. One of the deepest wounds we can experience is betrayal. It hurts so much because it comes from someone we trusted and loved.
Parents love their children and make many sacrifices for them. But sometimes children act as if they grew up all by themselves. They may forget their parents’ love and sacrifice, and even blame or rebel against them. When that happens, parents can feel deep pain and disappointment.
The same is true in marriage. When two people promise to share their lives together, but that trust is broken, the wound can be very deep. I, too, have been deeply hurt by people I loved and trusted. And even now, there are times when I feel disappointed or hurt by someone I trusted.
Those experiences have taught me something: Betrayal hurts because we trusted and loved the person.
But today’s Gospel leads me to ask another question: “What about the heart of God?”
God loves us. He has given us life, time, talents, and everything we have. And He has entrusted His vineyard to us.
But the tenants in today’s Gospel forgot something very important. They forgot that they were tenants. They began to act as if the vineyard belonged to them. So when they saw the son, they said, “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.” Perhaps this is one way to understand sin.
We begin to treat what God has given us as if it belongs completely to us.
My life is mine.
My time is mine.
My money is mine.
And so, I can do whatever I want with them.
Little by little, we forget who the true owner of the vineyard is. That is why I cannot simply look at the wicked tenants and condemn them. Because there have been times when I have lived like those tenants. And honestly, sometimes I still do.
Sometimes I put my will before God’s will. Sometimes I take His gifts for granted instead of being thankful. Sometimes, when God’s Word does not agree with what I want, I would rather ignore it.
We can remember for a long time the people who have hurt or betrayed us. But we can easily forget the times when we have turned away from God’s love and hurt His heart.
So today’s Gospel invites us to look at ourselves before we look at others. “What kind of fruit am I producing in the vineyard God has entrusted to me?” But there is something else in this Gospel that we should not miss. Even after the tenants rejected his servants again and again, the landowner finally
sent his own son.
“He will respect my son.”
Here we can see the heart of God, who does not easily give up on us. And the Son whom people rejected became the cornerstone. Human betrayal and sin did not have the final word. God’s love had the final word.
Perhaps, then, the question we ask about our own lives can also change. We often ask ourse lves, “Am I happy?” But perhaps a more important question is:“What am I living for?”
Happiness is not always something we find by chasing after it. Sometimes happiness comes as a gift when we discover meaning and purpose in life and live by the values that truly matter.
And we can ask one more question: “Does the joy I have found in my life become joy for someone else?”
The vineyard does not belong to me. It belongs to God. Our life, our time, our talents, and everything we have are gifts that God has entrusted to us.
So what matters is not how much we get from this life, or even how happy we become. What matters is how we live the life God has given us. May we return the love we have received with love, and may our lives bear good fruit—the fruit of forgiveness, mercy, and love.
As St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading, when we bring everything to God with prayer and thanksgiving, the God of peace will be with us.
Amen.
