Sour Grapes: A Reflection for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
By Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Provincial Superior, La Salette Missionaries of North America (Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 4:7-9; Matthew 21:33-43) Since ancient times, the lands of the Middle East and the Mediterranean have cultivated vineyards. So it is not surprising that the image of the vineyard recurs in their literature. A famous instance is in one of Aesop’s Fables, which gives us the expression “sour grapes,” describing the tendency to disparage what we want but cannot have. Isaiah’s parable of the vineyard uses the same image, but in a much different way. Translations vary: the grapes are wild, or bitter, or sour, even rotten. God expresses his disappointment with the rulers of his people, who have failed to produce the fruits of justice and right judgment. Jesus tells his own parable of the vineyard. The problem is not with the grapes, but with the tenant farmers who refuse to give the produce to the owner, and even kill the owner’s son. Immediately after this pas