Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the feasts of the Resurrection of the Lord and the Dormition of the Most-Holy Theotokos!

At the end of this month, the Church will mark the feast of the Elevation of the Cross, when we celebrate not only the finding of the Cross by the Empress Helena, but also remember the crucifixion of our Saviour. Although this may not be all that evident, the liturgical life of the Church is already preparing us for this day now. Mainly, this is being done through the Sunday Gospel readings. Today, let’s take notice in general terms of the Gospel readings for the following four Sundays as well as, in a more detailed fashion, today’s reading.

Today’s Gospel excerpt, like the other three readings that precede the feast of the Elevation of the Cross, is taken from the final section of the Gospel according to Matthew. In all of them we hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ said in the Temple in Jerusalem, as well as on the Mount of Olives several days before His arrest and crucifixion. After the festive entrance into Jerusalem, Jesus Christ spent several days in the Temple, where He conversed with the Jews, answered questions, taught through parables, and rebuked the Jews for their hardness of heart, stubbornness, and unbelief. In the evenings the Lord left the city and would ascend the Mount of Olives where He would spend the time continuing to teach His disciples. Knowing that His death on the Cross was fast approaching, Jesus Christ spoke very persistently, very expressively with the Jews. When He taught them through parables, He would say not just one parable to pass on His thoughts, but three all in a row, all of them with the same message so as to emphasize His teaching. The same is true of His approach with His disciples. Christ tells them not one parable, but three, one after the other. The Jews, that is the priests and pharisees, the elite of the Jewish nation, also understood perfectly that the life of Jesus was coming to a close, and therefore they, in their turn, persistently fell upon Christ and tempted Him with crafty questions. There were three such questions.

During Holy Week, we read about these events day after day and deeply feel the intensity of the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ. Before the Elevation of the Cross, we don’t have the liturgical richness that we have before Easter, and therefore the whole of the Gospel narrative of the last earthly days of the Lord is passed on through the four Sunday Gospel excerpts.

Today we heard the parable about the wicked husbandmen, while next Sunday we will hear about the marriage feast. Both parables were delivered to the Jews as a denunciation of the Jewish people throughout history because of the many times they ignored the calls of God the Father to live a God-pleasing life and for the murder of the prophets and messengers of God. As a consequence of their readiness to kill Jesus Christ, the Son of God, not only the future Kingdom of Heaven, but also their earthy kingdom was taken from them. On the third Sunday we will hear one of the questions addressed to Christ and designed to tempt Him and His answer to it. On the fourth Sunday we will read one of the three parables directed by Jesus Christ to His Apostles (the parable of the talents). In these three parables the Lord teaches His disciples about His second coming. In such a way the Church, through its liturgical lectionary, endeavours to catch the essence of the first days of Holy Week and pass on these ideas through the four short Sunday Gospel readings, so that we can at least in a small way prepare to worthily meet the feast of the Elevation of the Cross and remember the redemptive passion on the Cross of the Saviour.

Of course, the parables and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ have a meaning that is not tied exclusively to the historical time period in which they were said, nor to the people or nation that heard them. They are meaningful for all of us. Today let’s remember that the wonderful vineyard of today’s parable was created not only for the Jews, but for us as well. The Lord made it so that everything would be good for us, not only in the future life, but also here on earth. From us He expects relatively little. We must use that which is in the vineyard and to bear fruit – good Christian deeds – and bring them to the Lord. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen and therefore the Lord, using different methods, tries to correct us. Through the prayers of His Most-pure Mother, may Christ our God soften our hearts and make us spiritually discerning, so that we hear and see His actions in our lives, correct our mistakes, and always bear Him spiritual fruit.

priest Alexis