Bài Giảng Chúa Nhật 27 Thường Niên Năm A.

Bài Giảng Chúa Nhật 27 Thường Niên Năm A.
Trong bài đọc thứ hai hôm nay, Thánh Phaolô nói với chúng ta: “Đừng lo lắng gì cả”. (Phi-líp 4:6) Có lẽ chúng ta sẽ mỉm cười trước những lời đó. Khi ai đó nói với chúng ta đừng lo lắng, có thể họ giống như một người mù quá lạc quan đến mức tưởng tượng những điều tồi tệ sẽ không bao giờ xảy ra với họ. Điều đó rất khó, như trường hợp đã xảy ra với Thánh Phaolô. Thánh Phaolo đã phải đối mặt với những thử thách mà nhiều người trong chúng ta khos có thể hình dung được. Một phần tai họa bao gồm việc trốn tránh người do thái liên quan đến việc phải trốn chui trong cái giỏ và được đem xuống thành, bị đánh đòn nơi công cộng, bị đắm tàu, bị rắn cắn, bị cầm tù và bị các bệnh về thể xác, đặc biệt là bệnh về mắt. Tuy nhiên, trong bức thư này, được viết vào cuối đời, thánh nhân viết: “Đừng nên lo lắng gì cả”.
Trong lời khuyên gạt bỏ lo lắng sang một bên, Thánh Phaolô đang lặp lại tiếng vang của Chúa Giêsu. Trong Bữa Tiệc Ly, biết rằng sáng hôm sau mình sẽ phải đối mặt với sự sỉ nhục công khai và những cực hình, Chúa Giêsu đã nói với các môn đệ: “Lòng các con đừng nên xao xuyến”.  Chúng ta có thể tự hỏi làm thế nào có thể tuân theo một cái mệnh lệnh như vậy. Ngoài ra, chúng ta hãy biết ràng. Thánh Phao-lô và Chúa Giê-su không đưa ra một lời đề nghị là hãy ngoan đạo; nhưng cả hai lại ra lệnh. Không có gì phải lo lắng. Đừng để lòng mình bối rối. Tất cả chúng ta đều muốn thoát khỏi sự lo lắng, nhưng điều đó dường như là không thể xảy ra. Chúng ta lo lắng về tài chính, lo lắng vể khó khăn trong gia đình, công ăn việc làm, chúng ta lo lắng về sức khỏe, chưa kể đến những lo lắng về những gì đang xảy ra trên thế giới của chúng ta: thiên tai, xã hội đồi trụy, chiến tranh, khủng hoảng kinh tế, v.v. Khi Thánh Phaolô nói đừng lo lắng, khi Chúa Giêsu bảo chúng ta đừng lo sợ, điều đó không có nghĩa là bỏ qua thực tế. Điều đó có nghĩa là chúng ta phải có cách tiếp cận khác với những rắc rối của mình.
Trước khi nói những vấn đề đó, chúng ta nghĩ về cách tiếp cận nó, chúng ta đưa ra những lời từ chối trách nhiệm. Chúng ta là người hay lo lắng. Chúng ta lo lắng về tiền bạc. Chúng ta lo lắng về những gì mọi người nghĩ về chúng ta. Chúng ta lo lắng về việc không làm tốt công việc của mình. Chúng ta nghe thấy những vấn đề của người khác và chúng ta lo lắng cho họ! Chúng ta khó chịu vì chúng ta không thể giúp họ được gì cả. Chúng ta đang lo lắng nhiều hơn nữa. Đồng thời, chúng ta nhận ra rằng tất cả sự lo lắng của chúng ta cũng không mang lại lợi ích gì cho chúng ta hay bất kỳ ai khác.
Khi phân tích những lo lắng của chúng ta, chúng ta thấy rằng sự lo lắng chỉ liên quan đến hai ngày. Hơn nữa, chúng ta không kiểm soát được một trong hai ngày này. Hai ngày đó là ngày hôm qua và ngày mai. Chúng ta nghiền ngẫm về những lỗi lầm và sai trái trong quá khứ, nhưng chúng ta không thể làm gì được để thay đổi chúng. Điều tốt nhất chúng ta có thể làm là học hỏi từ những sai lầm đó, ăn năn thống hối về những lỗi phạm đó và đền bù nếu có thể. Điều này cũng đúng đối với ngày mai, những điều mà chúng ta thường lo lắng sẽ không xảy ra hoặc khi chúng xảy ra, chúng diễn ra hoàn toàn khác với những gì chúng ta lo sợ. Ngày duy nhất mà chúng ta có thể kiểm soát được đó chính là ngày hôm nay. Như Chúa Giêsu dạy: “chớ lo đến ngày mai: Ngài Mai sẽ lo cho ngày mai. Khổ ngày nào, đủ cho ngày ấy.” (Mt 6:34) Điều đó không có nghĩa là chúng ta không lập những kế hoạch thận trọng. Sự chuẩn bị kỹ lưỡng là một phần nhiệm vụ của ngày hôm nay. Nhưng một khi chúng ta đã thực hiện những kế hoạch đó, hãy giao những việc ấy vào tay Chúa Giêsu.
Bài Tin Mừng hôm nay đã nhắc nhở chúng ta về trách nhiệm của mình đối với Tin Mừng đã được rao giảng cho chúng ta. Hôm nay Chúa Giê-su đã dùng Dụ ngôn để nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng chúng ta phải có trách nhiệm đến Tin Mừng. Những người tá điền độc ác không có gì để tính toán vì họ thiếu trách nhiệm. Kết quả là, họ tránh xa bất cứ điều gì nhắc nhở họ về sự vô trách nhiệm của mình. Họ giết những người hầu và người thừa kế của chủ đất. Phần cuối câu chuyện ngụ ngôn, Chúa Giê-su đã nhắc nhở người nghe rằng Viên đá bị loại bỏ cuối cùng sẽ trở thành tảng đá góc nhà. Mục đích của bài dụ ngôn này là Ngài muốn nói đến các thượng tế và kỳ mục trong dân. Họ không tin vào Tin Mừng và lời kêu gọi hoán cải của Thánh Gioan Tẩy giả.
Rất có thể chúng ta cũng rơi vào hoàn cảnh tương tự ngày nay. Bài đọc thứ nhất nói chúng ta là vườn nho phì nhiêu trên sườn đồi. Điều đó có nghĩa là Tin Mừng có thể lớn lên trong mỗi người chúng ta. Tin Mừng được rao giảng hàng ngày trong các Thánh Lễ và Thiên Chúa mong đợi một mùa gặt nhân đức. Nhiều khi việc thu hoạch nhân đức này không đến vói chúng ta vì do tâm hồn của chúng ta bị tổn thương vì tội lỗi mà chúng ta đã mắc phạm. Vì thế mà chúng ta nghe Tin Mừng nhưng không có gì thay đổi trong cuộc sống của chúng ta.
Đức Thánh Cha Phanxicô viết trong thông điệp Laudato Si như: “bạo lực hiện diện trong trái tim chúng ta, bị tổn thương bởi tội lỗi, cũng được phản ánh trong các triệu chứng bệnh tật hiển hiện trong đất, trong nước, trong bầu không khí và trong mọi hình thức của sự sống.”
Vì vậy, thay vì tìm cách khắc phục tình trạng của mình, chúng ta vẫn cố chấp và nuôi dưỡng bản ngã của mình. Giống như những người tá điền độc ác, chúng ta đóng chặt cánh cửa trái tim của mình trước nguồn gốc của sự cứu chuộc. Chúa mong đợi công lý, nhưng lại thấy sự đổ máu, sự chính trực, nhưng chỉ là tiếng kêu đau khổ.
Bài đọc thứ hai, Thánh Phaolo mời gọi chúng ta cầu xin sự giúp đỡ bằng lời cầu nguyện và tạ ơn. Lời Chúa là nguồn đức tin của chúng ta và là phương tiện mang lại mùa gặt nhân đức. Chúng ta có khả năng sinh sản và đáp ứng với nó. Tiềm năng tăng trưởng đã có sẵn trong chúng ta, nhưng chúng ta cần hạt giống lời Chúa để trở nên nhân đức. Chúng ta phải cẩn thận khi không thể tìm thấy tội lỗi trong cuộc sống của mình. Đó có thể là một trường hợp cố chấp! Lời Chúa sống động và linh hoạt. Nó chỉ có thể xuyên thấu vào sâu thẳm trái tim của chúng ta nếu chúng ta mở rộng cánh cửa trái tim mình. Nó có thể tạo ra những thay đổi trong những mặt tối của trái tim chúng ta.
            Chúa sẽ chăm sóc chúng ta. Chúng ta sẽ khác biệt biết bao nếu chúng ta có thể đặt mọi lo lắng của mình vào tay Chúa! Vâng, hãy lắng nghe cẩn thận. Thánh Phaolô dạy chúng ta cách ngừng lo lắng và bắt đầu sống như sau: “Anh chị em ơi, đừng lo lắng gì cả, nhưng trong mọi việc, hãy dùng lời cầu nguyện, nài xin và tạ ơn mà trình bày những nhu cầu của mình cho Chúa. Bấy giờ sự bình an của Đức Chúa Trời vượt quá mọi sự hiểu biết, sẽ gìn giữ lòng và trí anh chị em trong Đức Chúa Giê-su Ki-tô. Amen.”
 
My Homily for Sunday 27th in Ordinary Time Year A
(St. Paul tells us how to stop worrying and start living.)
After the South VN fell in April 1975. Most of young Vietnamese Catholics were worry about their futures, especially those who worked for the South VN Government. That was the reason for many Vietnamese like me to leave VN at all costs, even our lives. Then, when we were on the ocean, we were living with anxiety because we did not know where we were going after escaping from the Chinese ships. How we could survive without water and little food on board, and so on and on.
In the second reading today, St. Paul tells us, “Have no anxiety at all.” (Phil 4:6) We perhaps smile at those words. When someone says not to worry, it can sound like a blind person who is so blindly optimistic that he imagines bad things can never happen. Well, that is hardly the case with Saint Paul. He faced trials that many of us couldn’t conceive. A partial list includes an escape involving being lowered over the side of building in a basket, public whippings, shipwrecks, snake bites, imprisonment and bodily ailments; particularly, afflictions of the eye. Yet in this letter, written toward the end of his life, he says, “Have no anxiety at all.” In his admonition to cast aside worry, St. Paul was echoing Jesus. At the Last Supper, knowing that the next morning he would face public humiliation and unspeakable tortures, Jesus told his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” We can ask how it is possible to obey such a command. In addition, let us be clear. St. Paul and Jesus are not making a pious suggestion; they are giving a command. Have no anxiety at all. Do not let your hearts be troubled.
All of us would like to be free from worries, but it seems impossible. We have financial problems, family difficulties, work deadlines, health concerns, not to mention worries about what is happening in our world: natural disasters, pandemics, societal breakdown, wars, economic turmoil and so on. When St. Paul says to have no anxieties, when Jesus tells us not to be troubled, it does not mean to ignore reality. What it means is that we take a different approach to our troubles. Before we say what, we think that approach is, we want to make a disclaimer.
We are a terrible worrier. We worry about money. We worry about what people think about us. We worry about not doing our job properly. We hear other people’s problems and we worry about them! It bothers us that we can do so little to help. We are worriers. At the same time, we recognize that all our fretting does no good for us or anyone else. When we analyze our anxieties, we see that they concern only two days. Moreover, we have no control over either of them.
The two days are yesterday and tomorrow. We brood about past faults and blunders, yet we can do nothing to change them. The best we can do is to learn from them, to repent of those things, which were sinful, and to make restitution if possible. The same is true about tomorrow, the things, which we worry about often, do not come to pass or, when they do happen, they turn out completely different than what we feared. The only day we can control is today. Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.” (Mt 6:34) That does not mean that we do not make prudent plans. Careful preparation is part of today's duty. However, once we make those plans, put them in Jesus’ hands.
Today’s gospel reminds us of our responsibility for the Good News that we had received. Jesus Christ used this Parable to remind us that we must account for the Good News. The wicked tenants had nothing to account for because of their lack of responsibility. As a result, they shut themselves off from anything that will remind them of their irresponsibility. They killed the servants and the heir of the landowner. At the end of the parable, Jesus reminded his listeners that the rejected stone would eventually become the chief corner stone. Jesus meant this parable for the Chief priests and the Elders of the people. They failed to believe in the Good News and the call to conversion. It is possible that we can find ourselves in similar situations today.  
The first reading refers to us as a vineyard on a fertile hillside. It means that the Good News can grow within each of us. The Good News is preached daily at the Holy Mass and God expects a harvest of virtues. Oftentimes this harvest of virtues is not forthcoming due to our hearts wounded by sin. We hear the Good News, but nothing changes in our lives.  Pope Francis writes in his encyclical, Laudato Si: “the violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life.” Thus, rather than seek ways of remedying our situation, we remain obstinate and feed our ego. Like the wicked tenants, we close the door of our hearts to the very source of redemption.
God expected justice, but found bloodshed, integrity, but only a cry of distress. The word of God is the source of our faith and a means of yielding a harvest of virtues.
We are fertile and responsive to it. The potential of growth is already in us, but we need the seed of the word of God in order to be virtuous. We must be careful when we are not able to find sin in our lives. It could be a case of obstinacy! The word of God is alive and active. It can only penetrate the depths of our hearts if we open wide the doors of our hearts. It can effect changes in the dark sides of our hearts. God will take care of us. What a difference it would make if we could place our cares in God’s hand!
Well, listen carefully. St. Paul tells us how to stop worrying and start living: “Brothers and sisters, have no anxieties at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.”
 
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 2026
Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” Matthew 21:42–43
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants is rich in Old Testament imagery. The image of the vineyard comes from the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 5:1–7) and represents the people of Israel. The landowner is God, who, from the time of Abraham, has lovingly and intentionally cultivated His people. The hedge, tower, and winepress symbolize God’s providential care, protection, and the structure He established for their spiritual growth, respectively.
The tenants are the religious elite of Israel who were entrusted with guiding the people in holiness. The servants sent by the landowner are the prophets—faithful messengers consistently rejected and mistreated. Finally, the son is Jesus Himself, sent by the Father as the culmination of His divine outreach. The parable ends in tragedy with the son’s murder. Yet from that tragedy arises a new beginning: “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit” (Matthew 21:43). Though Jesus was addressing the religious leaders of His time—the scribes, Pharisees, chief priests, Sadducees, and elders—His enduring promise of a new beginning speaks to us today.
We are invited to be part of the people to whom God now entrusts His vineyard, the Church. Today, the hedge, winepress, and tower represent the Sacraments, the teaching authority of the Church, Sacred Scripture, and the communion of the faithful. God continues to cultivate His vineyard with great care, expecting it to bear fruit through our lives of holiness, fidelity, charity, and truth. Each of us, as members of the Body of Christ, is called to receive this trust with gratitude and to labor diligently for the Kingdom, never forgetting the price paid by the Son who was cast out and killed for our redemption.
Sometimes, when we speak of “the Church,” we do so as if it were some distant institutions. Our minds may turn immediately to the Vatican, the pope, or the local bishop. While these shepherds hold crucial and foundational roles within the vineyard, we need to understand the Church in a more encompassing way.
To use the image from today’s parable, the vineyard and the fruit it is meant to bear are not equated exclusively with the tenants, the servants, the son, or even the landowner. The vineyard itself represents the entire people of God. The fruit it produces is the grace-filled witness of lives transformed by faith. This includes all of us: clergy, religious, and laity alike. Every member of the Church is a laborer in the vineyard, called to work together, under the guidance of Christ, the true Son, and to offer to the Father a rich harvest of justice, mercy, and truth.
Reflect today on how to make this parable your personal calling. The Kingdom of God has been partly entrusted to you to be one who will labor for the salvation of souls—“people that will produce its fruit.” The work of evangelization is an ongoing and urgent mission. In what ways is God calling you to work in His Divine Vineyard? Is it through faithful prayer, by which the vines of grace are pruned and nourished? Is it through the work of harvesting, where you draw others to Christ by your words, your witness, and your works of love? Is it through quiet perseverance in suffering, offered in union with the Crucified One? However God calls you, do not delay. Receive His trust with humility, and labor with joy. The vineyard is His, but the fruit depends, in part, on you. My glorious King, You have called us to Yourself and made us members of Your Kingdom. You have also sent us forth to labor in the vineyard of Your Church and help draw many souls to Your Sacred Heart. Please reveal to me the role and mission You have entrusted to me. May I listen attentively to Your gentle commands and respond with a heart full of generosity and faith. May Your Church—of which I am a living member—continue to bear abundant fruit through the grace You pour forth. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you have planted and tended us as your vineyard, giving us everything needed to bear good fruit. Open our hearts to recognize your care and receive your correction when we fail to live according to your will. Remove whatever prevents us from bearing fruits of justice, mercy, and holiness. Make us stewards of what you have entrusted to us, so that our lives may glorify you and serve others.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Isaiah’s Song of the Vineyard: In the First Reading, Isaiah presents Israel as a vineyard lovingly planted and cultivated by the Lord. The owner has done everything necessary for an abundant harvest: he chooses a fertile hillside, clears it of stones, plants choice vines, builds a watchtower, and prepares a winepress. Yet the vineyard produces only “wild grapes”—literally, foul or worthless fruit. The Lord then asks Jerusalem and Judah to judge between him and his vineyard: “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?” The answer is clear. The Lord has shown his people every possible care, yet they have failed to produce the fruit he sought. Isaiah identifies that fruit as justice: instead of justice, the Lord finds bloodshed; instead of righteousness, the cry of the oppressed. The vineyard therefore becomes an image of Israel's relationship with God. The Lord's gifts create a responsibility: those whom he has cultivated are expected to bear fruit.
2. Matthew’s Parable of the Wicked Tenants: In the Gospel, Jesus takes up Isaiah's vineyard imagery and gives it a new and more personal meaning. The landowner represents God, the vineyard Israel, and the tenants the religious leaders entrusted with caring for God’s people. The servants sent to collect the harvest represent the prophets, many of whom were rejected and persecuted. Finally, the owner sends his son. The tenants’ response reveals the depth of their rebellion: “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.” The son represents Jesus, the beloved Son whom the Father sends after a long history of calling his people to repentance. His rejection and death foreshadow the Passion, when Jesus will be taken outside Jerusalem and crucified. The irony is striking. The chief priests and elders condemn the wicked tenants without realizing that they are condemning themselves. Jesus therefore announces that the kingdom will be entrusted to a people who will “produce its fruit.” God’s vineyard is not given merely for possession; it is entrusted for a purpose. Those who receive God's gifts are called to bear fruit for the kingdom.
3. The Peace of God: In the Second Reading, Paul’s words to the Philippians offer a practical way of living as people who trust the God of the vineyard. “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Anxiety often grows when we imagine that everything depends upon us. Prayer begins by acknowledging that our lives, our work, our relationships, and our future remain in God’s hands. Notice that Paul joins petition with thanksgiving. We do not approach God as though he has never cared for us. We bring our needs to the same Father who has already sustained us and who, as Paul wrote earlier, “began a good work” in us and will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6). Trusting ourselves to him opens our hearts to “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding,” which guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Paul then directs our thoughts toward “whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious” (Philippians 4:8). Christian peace is not simply the absence of anxiety. It involves learning to see and interpret our circumstances according to the truth of Christ. We are gradually formed by what occupies our minds. When prayer entrusts our concerns to God and thanksgiving recalls his faithfulness, our thoughts can be reordered around what is good and true. Paul's final exhortation is therefore practical: “Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.” The peace of God grows within a life ordered toward God. Prayer, thanksgiving, right thinking, and faithful action belong together. As our minds and hearts are conformed to Christ, our lives become capable of bearing the good fruit God desires.
 
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” Matthew 21:42–43
The most amazing thing that has ever happened in this world is the death of the Son of God. It is amazing for many reasons. It’s amazing that God the Father allowed His Son to be brutally murdered by evil men. It’s amazing that the Son did not call upon the myriad of angels to stop His persecution. It’s amazing that Jesus spoke words of forgiveness from the Cross as His own mother looked on. But perhaps the most amazing aspect about this event is that from it, the gift of eternal salvation was made possible.
Only God, in His inconceivable wisdom and power, could bring forth the greatest good from the greatest evil. Nothing could be more evil than the brutal murder of the Son of God. And nothing could be more glorious than the transformation of that heinous act into the definitive act of salvation for the human race. Jesus was “the stone rejected by the builders.” But that rejected Stone was used by the Father to “become the cornerstone” of the new life of grace to which we are called.
The passage quoted above concludes the Parable of the Tenants, which outlines salvation history. The Father is the owner of the vineyard, which represents the people of Israel. The tenants were the religious leaders of the time who abused the prophets who were sent to gather the fruit of God’s Kingdom. The son is the Son of God whom the leaders of Israel killed under the misconception that killing Jesus would guarantee the continuation of their power. However, the true result was that they suffered their own destruction, and the murdered Son became the cornerstone of the Church and the source of new life.
Today, you are among the people to whom God has given charge of His new Vineyard, the Church. Of you, God demands an abundance of good fruit. Though the Church is entrusted to the pope, bishops and priests in a special way, it is also entrusted to the laity, each in their own way. Everyone must bear fruit for the Kingdom of God, and everyone will be held accountable for their stewardship.
Sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that we have little to offer. If we were the pope, a bishop or even a priest, we could do great things for God. And though that is true, it is no less true that everyone is capable of bearing an abundance of good fruit for the Kingdom. And God expects that of us all. If you doubt that fact in any way, recall again the undeniable fact that the Father used the greatest evil ever committed to bring forth the greatest good ever known. If God can bring forth new life from death, then He can certainly use you in powerful ways. In fact, the weaker you are and the more insignificant you feel, the more God can use you to produce good fruit.
Reflect, today, upon the glorious fact that if God can use his own suffering and death to bring salvation to the world, He can also use you in ways that are beyond your imagination. You might not become a famous evangelist. You might not succeed in some well-recognized ministry. In fact, you might even encounter much suffering, persecution, and hardship throughout life. Regardless of your own life situation, God desires to use you for great things and to bear an abundance of good fruit for His Kingdom. Commit to that mission, and allow God to use you as a cornerstone of His grace in this world.
My Lord and Cornerstone of the Church, You were rejected by the leaders of Israel and were killed in the most horrific way. Yet in Your glorious power, You transformed that evil into the greatest good. I give to You my weaknesses and pains, my talents and labors; I give to You my entire life. Please use me and help me to share in Your life so that, with You, I may also become a cornerstone of Your grace as You desire. Jesus, I trust in You.