Parables are timeless tools Jesus uses to get his message across. Though full of violence, this parable is no different; just look at today’s headlines. Few of us are violent, certainly not in the manner we just heard, people killing, beating and stoning yet sadly, violence does color the world we live in. Nations, peoples, individuals, even kids, routinely hurt, maim, and kill. In this graphic manner, Jesus cautions that the kingdom of God will be taken away from those who have no respect for the son of God.
Historically, our world has been divided into “us” and “them.” In the parable, we had the tenants and the servants. Now “us and them” could be described as blacks and whites, Muslims and Jews, gays and straights, the haves and have-nots, to name but a few. One doesn’t have to go far to find division. Even within our minds, we have a tug of war going on. Our “tenants” are those beliefs, habits, and attitudes that dupe us into rejecting the call of the servants, modern day prophets, who urge us to respect the son of God and his message. The tenants’ final act of defiance in killing the son alludes to our personal rejection of Christ, which happens whenever we commit a mortal sin.
When we are influenced more by the secularism of our culture than the teachings of our Church, we do not see the act we or others commit as anything immoral or wrong. Instead, we rationalize that certain sinful acts and values are harmless, when in fact, they are not.
Every sin causes harm and hurt. History is full of examples where we have chosen not to respect life. Genocidal slaughter based on ethnic or religious differences have touched just about every culture and every land, including ours. But the destruction doesn’t stop there. We must not ignore the cold-blooded killings by teens, patients committing suicide with the help of doctors, prisoners who have been tortured or executed, fetuses destroyed by abortion or infanticide, or addictive behaviors like pornography that undermine the dignity of the human person.
Our culture claims these values are acceptable. Many who find them offensive and immoral have chosen to remain silent on the matter or feel that “the choice is that person’s right.” Such silence doesn’t make the evil disappear as one German ruefully observed years ago, “In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
The immorality, the violence and the legitimized killings are so common place that they may seem beyond our control. So, we reason, as did many Germans during the reign of Adolf Hitler, we have neither the power nor the responsibility to change things. Yet as Edmund Burke, an English philosopher, observed, all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.
Pope Benedict XVI observed the divisive nature of culture on his recent trip to our country when he said, “The subtle influence of secularism can color the way people allow their faith to influence their behavior. Is it consistent to profess our beliefs in church on Sunday, and then during the week to promote business practices or medical procedures contrary to those beliefs? Is it consistent for practicing Catholics to ignore or exploit the poor and the marginalized, to promote sexual behavior contrary to Catholic moral teaching, or to adopt positions that contradict the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death?”
The obvious answer is no. Pope John Paul II cautioned, “For many people the difference between good and evil is determined by the opinion of the majority…” He added, “The choice in favor of life is not a private option but a basic demand of a just and moral society.” To respect life, there must be a reawakening in our hearts to really know and live the gospel of Jesus Christ. Such an intimate understanding emerges through daily prayer, study and attentive reflection.
Jesus told us, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Any contractor knows that a building without a cornerstone will eventually collapse. Raising his son from the dead, God offers us Jesus as the cornerstone of our faith. If this is what we profess, then he must supplant the false beliefs, habits, and attitudes which the wicked “tenants” of our secular culture promote. When we know Jesus and his message, his voice stands out from the rest of the world.
A Chinese lad, who wanted to learn how to make jade into beautiful objects, went to a master who placed a piece of jade in the boy’s hands, then sat there chatting about his wife, his job, his children, and so on. All the while, the boy patiently felt the jade. This continued for several weeks, until one day, without warning, the master placed a stone in the boy’s hands. “Hey! This isn’t jade!” the boy cried. He had learned the feel of jade. Likewise, if we are to truly respect life and experience the kingdomGod, we need to know the real Jesus. Those who have made Jesus the cornerstone of their faith truly know the peace of God in the midst of a violent world.