Homily of Pope Francis – Opening Mass of the Synod on the Family

Today the prophet Isaiah and the Gospel employ the image of the
Lord’s vineyard. The Lord’s vineyard is his “dream”, the plan which he
nurtures with all his love, like a farmer who cares for his vineyard.
Vines are plants which need much care!

God’s “dream” is his
people. He planted it and nurtured it with patient and faithful love, so
that it can become a holy people, a people which brings forth abundant
fruits of justice.

But in both the ancient prophecy and in Jesus’
parable, God’s dream is thwarted. Isaiah says that the vine which he so
loved and nurtured has yielded “wild grapes” (5:2,4); God “expected
justice but saw bloodshed, righteousness, but only a cry of distress”
(v. 7). In the Gospel, it is the farmers themselves who ruin the Lord’s
plan: they fail to do their job but think only of their own interests.

In
Jesus’ parable, he is addressing the chief priests and the elders of
the people, in other words the “experts”, the managers. To them in a
particular way God entrusted his “dream”, his people, for them to
nurture, tend and protect from the animals of the field. This is the job
of leaders: to nuture the vineyard with freedom, creativity and hard
work.

But Jesus tells us that those farmers took over the
vineyard. Out of greed and pride they want to do with it as they will,
and so they prevent God from realizing his dream for the people he has
chosen.

The temptation to greed is ever present. We encounter it
also in the great prophecy of Ezekiel on the shepherds (cf. ch. 34),
which Saint Augustine commented upon in one his celebrated sermons which
we have just reread in the Liturgy of the Hours. Greed for money and
power. And to satisfy this greed, evil pastors lay intolerable burdens
on the shoulders of others, which they themselves do not lift a finger
to move (cf. Mt 23:4)

We too, in the Synod of Bishops, are
called to work for the Lord’s vineyard. Synod Assemblies are not meant
to discuss beautiful and clever ideas, or to see who is more
intelligent… They are meant to better nuture and tend the Lord’s
vineyard, to help realize his dream, his loving plan for his people. In
this case the Lord is asking us to care for the family, which has been
from the beginning an integral part of his loving plan for humanity.

We
are all sinners and can also be tempted to “take over” the vineyard,
because of that greed which is always present in us human beings. God’s
dream always clashes with the hypocrisy of some of his servants. We can
“thwart” God’s dream if we fail to let ourselves be guided by the Holy
Spirit. The Spirit gives us that wisdom which surpasses knowledge, and
enables us to work generously with authentic freedom and humble
creativity.

My Synod brothers, to do a good job of nurturing and
tending the vineyard, our hearts and our minds must be kept in Jesus
Christ by “the peace of God which passes all understanding” (Phil
4:7). In this way our thoughts and plans will correspond to God’s
dream: to form a holy people who are his own and produce the fruits of
the kingdom of God (cf. Mt 21:43).

[01564-02.02] [Original text: Italian]