The rejected son and the faithful vineyard
MASS Ego autem
LESSON Genesis 37: 6-22
GOSPEL St Matthew 21: 33-46
HOMILIST Mt Revd Jerome Lloyd OSJV
Beloved in Christ,
Holy Mother Church today continues our Lenten pilgrimage through the ancient stational churches of Rome. The faithful would first gather in the Suburra at the deaconry of St. Agatha in Monasterio, once called St. Agatha of the Goths. That church itself carries a quiet testimony of conversion. During the Gothic occupation of Rome it had fallen into Arian hands, but it was restored to Catholic worship by Pope St. Gregory the Great in the sixth century. Thus even the place of gathering reminds us that error and division do not have the last word; the Church, purified by grace, reclaims what has been lost.
From there the Roman Christians processed to the nearby basilica of St. Vitalis, one of the most ancient martyr shrines in the city. Tradition tells us that Vitalis, a Roman soldier who professed Christ openly during persecution, was condemned to a cruel death: buried up to the waist in a pit and then stoned by the crowd. The Church’s liturgy today deliberately echoes that martyrdom.
The lesson from Genesis recounts how Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, is betrayed by his own brothers and cast into an empty pit. In the Gospel, Our Lord tells the parable of the wicked husbandmen who reject the servants of the vineyard and finally kill the son of the householder. In both readings we see the same mystery: the righteous man rejected by those who should have recognised him.
Joseph is hated because of the dreams that reveal his future glory. Christ is rejected because He is the true heir of the vineyard. The martyr Vitalis dies because he confesses the true King.
Already the shadow of Calvary stretches across the pages of Scripture.
The Fathers of the Church have long seen in Joseph a figure of Christ. Joseph is the beloved son sent by his father to seek his brethren; Christ is the beloved Son sent by the Father for the salvation of the world. Joseph is betrayed out of envy; Christ is condemned for the same reason. Joseph is cast into the pit and later exalted to save those who rejected him; Christ descends into death and rises again to redeem the very world that crucified Him.
Thus the Church is not merely recounting ancient history during Lent. She is leading us into the very pattern of redemption.
The Introit expresses the confidence of the just soul: “But I in justice shall behold Thy face; I shall be satisfied when Thy glory shall appear.” The faithful servant, the suffering prophet, the persecuted saint — all cling to this promise. Though rejected by men, the just man looks to God for vindication.
Yet the liturgy also warns us. In the Gospel Our Lord speaks not only about the wicked husbandmen of Israel, but about every generation that receives God’s gifts yet refuses to render Him the fruits of holiness.
The vineyard is the world entrusted to men by God. The servants are the prophets, teachers, and saints sent throughout history. The Son is Christ Himself.
The tragedy is not that God fails to provide guidance; the tragedy is that men repeatedly refuse it.
This is why the Church insists throughout Lent that liturgy alone is not enough. The splendour of sacred worship must bear fruit in a transformed life. It is possible to participate in the rites of religion while remaining inwardly resistant to God’s grace. One may hear the prophets and still ignore them. One may even hear Christ Himself and yet refuse to yield the fruits of conversion.
Lent therefore presses a question upon every Christian conscience: what fruit is my life bearing for God?
Fasting, prayer, and almsgiving are not empty disciplines. They are the cultivation of the vineyard of the soul. They break the hardness of the ground so that grace may produce the fruits of charity, humility, and obedience.
And here the martyr St. Vitalis stands before us as a living answer to that question. He did not merely profess faith with his lips; he bore fruit through fidelity unto death. Buried in a pit and stoned by the crowd, he shared in the rejection of Christ Himself. Yet in that apparent defeat he entered into eternal victory.
The world always believes it has triumphed when it silences the righteous. But the Cross reveals a deeper truth: the stone rejected by the builders becomes the cornerstone.
The Christian life follows the same paradox. Fidelity to Christ will sometimes place us at odds with the spirit of the age. Truth may provoke hostility. Holiness may be misunderstood. But the Church reminds us that the measure of success is not worldly approval but faithfulness to God.
Joseph endured betrayal. The prophets endured persecution. Christ endured the Cross. The martyrs endured death.
Yet through each of these trials the divine plan unfolded.
And so the prayer of today’s liturgy becomes our own: “Hear, O Lord, a just suit; attend to my cry.”
For those who remain faithful, the promise remains sure: the day will come when the just shall behold the face of God and be satisfied in His glory.
Amen.
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