Gospel (Mt 21,33-43.45-46) - At that time, Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: «Listen to another parable: there was a man who owned land and planted a vineyard there. He surrounded it with a hedge, dug a hole for the wine press and built a tower. He rented it to some farmers and went far away. When the time came to harvest the fruits, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect the harvest. But the farmers took the servants and beat one, killed another, stoned another. He again sent other servants, more numerous than the first, but they treated them the same way. Finally he sent them his own son saying: "They will have respect for my son!". But the farmers, seeing his son, said to each other: "This is the heir. Upon him, let us kill him and we will have his inheritance! They caught him, chased him out of the vineyard and killed him. So when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers? They replied to him: "Those wicked people, he will make them die miserably and will rent the vineyard to other farmers, who will deliver the fruits to him in his time." And Jesus said to them: «Have you never read in the Scriptures: «The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was done by the Lord and it is a marvel in our eyes"? Therefore I say to you: the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruits." Having heard these parables, the chief priests and Pharisees understood that he was talking about them. They were trying to capture him, but they were afraid of the crowd, because they considered him a prophet.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

For those who listened to this parable at the time of Jesus it was clear that the vineyard represented the people of Israel and the owner was God who cared for it with incredible love. The parable reaches its climax when the time of fruit arrives and the master sends his servants to collect them. The reaction of the winemakers is violent: as soon as the servants arrive they are seized and one beaten, the other killed and the other stoned. The owner, disconcerted by this violent reaction, sends others. But these too suffer the same fate. Jesus makes a tragic synthesis of the recurring history of violent opposition (even outside the Judeo-Christian tradition) to the servants of God, to the men of the word (the prophets), to the just and honest of every place and time, by those who they want to serve only themselves and accumulate wealth for their own convenience. But the Lord - and this is the true thread of hope that saves history - never loses patience. «In the end», says Jesus, the master sends his son. He thinks to himself: "they will have respect for my son." But the fury of the winemakers explodes even more ferociously: they grab that son, take him out of the vineyard and kill him. These words literally describe the refusal to welcome Jesus not only on the part of individual people but of the city itself and its inhabitants. Jesus, born outside the city of Bethlehem, dies outside Jerusalem. He, lucidly and courageously, denounces this infidelity which culminates in the rejection of the Gospel and his own crucifixion. The Lord expected the "fruits" from the "vineyard", but was "repaid" with the killing first of the servants and finally of his Son himself. But God does not give up. From that Son new vinedressers are recruited, who will take care of the vineyard which will bear new and abundant fruit. The new winemakers become a new people. However, their bond is not given by belonging to blood or external bonds, even if "religious", but only by adhesion to the love of the Father. The evangelist continues to tell us that no one can claim property rights: everything is a gift of God's free love. The new people of God is qualified by the "fruits" of the Gospel: that is, by the faith that generates the works of justice and mercy . In other words, the fruits coincide with fidelity to the love of God and to his Gospel. As it is written: "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he cuts off" (Jn 15:2); and again: «By their fruits you will know them» (Mt 7,16).