27th Sun Year A: Oct 4, 2020 - Is 5:1-7; Phil 4:6-9; Mt 21:33-43 Imagine a young child getting a puppy for Christmas or for a birthday. Can’t you just see that child’s eyes light up with excitement and joy? Perhaps the child has been asking about a puppy for a long time and now the child’s parents have finally given the child this wonderful gift. Of course, there are some ground rules with the child getting such a gift. The parents expect the child to take care of this puppy. That means making sure the puppy is fed, taking the puppy for walks, watching the puppy, picking up after the puppy, letting the parents know when the puppy is not feeling well so they can take it to the vet, loving the puppy, playing with the puppy, and treating the puppy right, too. A puppy is a big responsibility. It is not just play time. But sometimes, a child may not be ready for the responsibility of doing all that is needed to care for a puppy. Sometimes, if the child can’t be responsible and the puppy might suffer the consequences the parent will give the puppy away to someone who can better care for the puppy. It is not just enough for us to appreciate the gifts we get, and appreciate those who give the gifts, it is also important to be responsible for the gifts we are given. Unfortunately, right now, we are still experiencing restrictions, and Covid 19 concerns, in our everyday lives and even here at Mass. As Christians we continue to be called to live up to our responsibilities to ourselves, our families, our friends, and even those we meet on a daily basis. Today’s Gospel parable is giving us the story of the leaders of Israel who were given the gift, and the responsibility, of caring for the Lord’s Vineyard, of caring for God’s people, but the leaders were doing a poor job of it. The warning comes, in the parable, explaining that if we don’t appreciate what God has given, and don’t take care of those gifts, including the responsibility of caring about others, then God will find other people who will accept the responsibility, and we will lose out on the gift and the blessings. We cannot shirk our responsibilities to ourselves, to others, and to God. We are all called to treat each other with respect, to do what we can to help one another, to have compassion for one another, to keep each other safe, to forgive, and to love, in imitation of Jesus. Many of the leaders of Jesus’ day were more concerned about themselves than they were about the people they should have been caring for and should have been serving. Some of us are falling into that same trap too. Something as simple as washing our hands or wearing a mask or social distancing are becoming stumbling blocks to practicing our faith in imitation of Jesus. Can you imagine how we would feel if we needed surgery and we were rolled into the operating room and the surgeon was standing there, ready to start, with no gloves, no surgical gown, and no mask? We would be shocked and we would probably be angry. If we would not want the surgeon to reject his responsibility, to care for us, shouldn’t we accept our own responsibility to care about others, to care about our families, to care about our friends, as we care about ourselves? How can we say that we are Christian if we are not willing to accept our responsibility to imitate Jesus and care about others? Sadly, there are a couple of people, here at OLDP, who refuse to consider the welfare of others and refuse to wear masks to protect those around them, even at Mass. Please pray for them that God will open their hearts to do the right thing before someone gets sick.