Sunday, October 4, 2026

Dear brothers and sisters,

Jesus often used parables in His teachings as simple stories drawn from everyday life that revealed profound spiritual truths in simple ways to understand. By using familiar situations, relatable characters, and down-to-earth imagery, He transformed ordinary human experiences into powerful lessons about God, faith, and the moral way of life. His parables were not only engaging stories that captured the attention of His listeners, but also powerful lessons that brought the people to serious reflection on the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, the demands of true discipleship, and the path to spiritual growth. For those who sincerely sought the truth, His parables became a path to divine wisdom and a stronger connection with intangible God. For those whose hearts were hardened by pride or unbelief, His parables became an urgent call to repentance and conversion.

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants, proclaimed in this weekend's Gospel, can be a good example. It was used to emphasize human faith and obedience to God, regardless how famous and powerful they were among the people. It was also a warning to those who named themselves the good ones, the holy ones, and the promised ones, about the consequences of rejecting God, His messages and His authority. In this parable, Jesus implied God in the picture of the landowner, the servants in the picture of the prophets and other God’s messengers, the vineyard in the picture of the nation of Israel and God’s people, and the social and religious leaders in the picture of the tenants. According to this parable, the landowner entrusted to the tenants His vineyard and expected them to steward what He had given them faithfully, effectively and successfully. This story detail was used to point the full ownership, divine authority, and supreme power of God over the people, including those social and religious leaders. However, when the landowner sent his servants with his command to the tenants, those servants were mistreated, ignored, and even killed instead of receiving support, agreement and collaboration from the tenants. This feature in the parable signified the rejection and persecution that the prophets must face throughout history. In addition, Jesus used the landowner’s son and the mistreatment of the tenants on him to symbolize His incarnation, His passion and His crucifixion. Finally, using the final decision of the landowner as he punished the wicked tenants and transferred his favor to others, Jesus directly gave a warning to those social and religious leaders about God's judgment toward their perfidy, unfaithfulness and disobedience. In the misdt of the listeners, the social and religious leaders followed the concept, got the story, and understood His warning, even though their hearts might be hardened or closed to His teachings. This is the profound impact of the parables that Jesus used in His teaching

Sincerely yours in Jesus Christ and Our Lady of La Vang!

Reverend Kiet Anh Ta.