“What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?”

That question stuck with me this morning.

God had done everything for His vineyard. He prepared the ground. He planted it. He protected it. He gave it everything it needed.

And He expected it to produce good fruit.

Then Jesus tells another story about a vineyard in the Gospel. Again, the vineyard belongs to someone. The tenants are allowed to work it, but it isn’t theirs. And when the owner sends people to collect what belongs to him, they act like the whole thing belongs to them.

They even kill his son.

Something in the homily I heard today helped bring that together for me.

We belong to God.

He created us. We didn’t create ourselves.

We are His vines.

That sounds pretty simple, but I think I forget it sometimes.

My life belongs to God. My gifts belong to God. My time belongs to God. Everything I have started with Him.

It’s His vineyard.

And that makes Jesus’ words at the end of the Gospel a little more personal for me.

“The kingdom of God will be… given to a people that will produce its fruit.”

I started thinking about the Gentiles.

Jesus is the rejected stone who became the cornerstone. But the Kingdom was opened to people who had been on the outside.

People like me.

I didn’t do anything to earn a place in His vineyard. Through Jesus, I was brought into it.

And now He expects me to produce fruit.

That seems to be where St. Paul fits for me today too.

“Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

Keep on doing.

God has already given me so much. Now what am I going to do with what I have received?

Today is also the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. I ask for his intercession almost every day, specifically that he help me say yes to God.

And maybe that’s why he fits these readings so well for me today.

Francis belonged to God, and he gave God his yes.

I doubt he had any idea what God would do with it.

But look at the fruit that came from that one man’s yes.

Eight hundred years later, I’m sitting here asking St. Francis to pray that I will have the courage to say yes too.

One man’s yes can ripple for generations.

I don’t have to know what God is going to do with my yes. I just have to remember that I belong to Him and give it.

I also got a little reminder this morning that I don’t have all of this figured out. I had something wrong as I was working through the readings and had to go back and check it.

I’m not so wise.

That’s probably good for me to remember.

I need to check things. I need the Church to help me understand Scripture. I need to be willing to admit when I have something wrong and keep learning.

Because even the truth isn’t mine to make into whatever I want it to be.

It’s His.

Maybe that’s what all of this comes down to for me today.

I belong to God.

The vineyard belongs to God.

Whatever He has given me belongs to God.

Even the fruit belongs to God.

My part is to keep saying yes. Keep doing what He has taught me. Keep tending what He has given me.

And trust Him with what comes from it.

So my prayer today is, Lord, let Your face shine upon me. Help me remember that I belong to You. Thank You for bringing me into Your vineyard. Give me the humility to know when I am wrong and the courage to keep saying yes. Take whatever fruit comes from my life and use it however You want.

St. Francis, pray for me.

Where might God simply be asking you to give Him your small yes today?

I pray you get the graces you need today.

Keep up the good fight.

I’m praying for you. Please pray for me.

Scripture: Isaiah 5:1-7 | Psalm 80:9, 12-16, 19-20 | Philippians 4:6-9 | Matthew 21:33-43