Family Synod: Opening Mass and Angelus

The Synod of the Family opened on Sunday with Mass in St Peter's Basilica. During his homily Pope Francis urged the Synod Bishops to listen to the Lord’s call to “care for the family” which is “an integral part of His loving plan for humanity”. The Holy Father said “Synod Assemblies are not meant to discuss beautiful and clever ideas” but to “better nurture and tend to the Lord’s vineyard, to help realize his dream, his loving plan for his people.”

The official English translation of the Holy Father’s homily follows:

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).

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After the Mass, during the Angelus with pilgrims in St Peter's Square, Pope Francis asked for prayers for all those taking part in the Synod. He also encouraged all families to keep a Bible handy in their homes, and read it often. “For the family to be able to proceed well, with trust and with hope, it must be nurtured by the Word of God” he said.

Mentioning the fact that the Pauline brothers had just distributed Bibles to those present, the Pope said: “Today, as the Synod for the Family opens, with the help of the Pauline brothers there is a Bible for every family! Not to just put it on a shelf, but to keep it on hand, dip into it often, both individually and together, husband and wife, parents and children, perhaps in the evening, especially on Sundays. In this way the family will grow and walk in the light and the strength of God’s Word!”

After the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis recalled the beatification Saturday of Sister Maria Teresa Demjanovich in the United States and thanked the Lord for this “faithful disciple of Christ who led an intense spiritual life”.

He also mentioned that Italy was marking a special day to make all buildings accessible to people with disabilities.

Source: VIS