Isaiah 5: The Vineyard Song
Fifth Sunday of Lent, April 6, 2025
With this adapted Favorite from February 13, 2011, we give thanks for the presence of The Spirit as we struggle against all that would hold us down, all that would keep us from remaining on The Vine.
From the MAGNIFICAT Evening Prayer for Saturday, February 12: A good person brings forth good out of a store of goodness, but an evil person brings for the evil out of a store of evil. Matthew 12:35)
The power of evil is insidious. It conceals itself within our lives posing as good. Discernment is the process of determining what is the counterfeit of good and what is true good. Let us apply ourselves wholeheartedly to discernment and to living godly lives. (MAGNIFICAT Mini-reflection, 168)
The power of evil is insidious . . . There is so much around us locally and globally that discourages us. We feel as though evil has taken over the world and that God does nothing to prevent this evil; yet here is a reminder that God is not evil, that God invites goodness, and that God is goodness.
Evil conceals itself within our lives posing as good . . . Matthew reminds us (6:12) that where our treasure lies there also is our heart. Jesus tells the rich young man, and us, that if we seek perfection we must sell what we have, give it to the poor and follow him (Matthew 19:21, Mark 10:21 and Luke 12:33-34 and 18:22).Not many of us have the confidence to follow God in this way. Not many of us trust God enough to believe that God will truly care for our needs. We too often are planted in well-prepared soil and produce little fruit, and then we blame God for the evil in the world. We trick ourselves into thinking that we have done all that can be humanly done. Or we convince ourselves that we are powerless.
Discernment is the process of determining what is the counterfeit of good and what is true good . . . Over the past weeks and days we have witnessed the will of thousands to overcome oppression in northern African countries. I am imagining how the world might be different if all of us were to speak out against evil in our families and communities. The vineyard in which we are growing might then grow the beautiful, full and nourishing grapes which the vineyard keeper has planted rather than the puny, wild grapes of unpredictable quality we allow to grow. It is not difficult to distinguish what is good from what is evil, what is true and what is false. When we begin to trust God to lead us, our sensitivity to goodness heightens and it becomes easier with practice to distinguish what we are to do and what we are to say.
Let us apply ourselves wholeheartedly to discernment and to living godly lives . . . Isaiah’s Vineyard Song is followed by descriptions of the “doom of the unjust” and the subsequent invasion. Woe to those who are wise in their own sight, and prudent in their own esteem! If we are vague about who or what indicates wild grapes, Isaiah provides us with an exact listing. We cannot say that we have not been told or that we do not understand what evil is and does. We cannot say that we do not know what goodness is and what goodness does. We ought not be surprised, therefore, at our fate.
Israel turned away from the God who saved and nurtured her and we are given the same choice to choose our own fate. In today’s reading for Mass we have a clear description in Sirach 15:15-20, 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 and Matthew 5:17-27. We have a clear road map with clear markers along the way. When we join in singing Isaiah’s Vineyard Song, do we sing with full throat and heart? We will want our voices to join with those who yearn to live in the kingdom.
The power of evil is insidious. It conceals itself within our lives posing as good. Discernment is the process of determining what is the counterfeit of good and what is true good. Let us apply ourselves wholeheartedly to discernment and to living godly lives.
Tomorrow, Naboth’s vineyard.
Cameron, Peter John, Rev., ed. “Mini-Reflection.” MAGNIFICAT. 12 February 2011. Print.
Image from: http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2017/05/deacon-bickerstaff-daily-reflection-vine-and-branches/
The Noontimes 