I attended a Melkite Divine Liturgy this morning and the priest gave a pretty good sermon so I thought I'd share. It was about the Gospel parable where the owner of the vineyard goes away and leaves his vineyard in the care of hired men. The owner of the vineyard sends other men to collect the fruits and the greedy, wicked hired men beat or kill them. After sending others with the same result he finally sends his son who the hired men also beat and kill. The owner will now come to destroy the wicked men. The Melkite priest first related this to the old covenant. The kings and priests were put in charge of the Isrealites (Judaism). At times the kings and priests acted as if the Isrealites belonged to them rather than to God and preceeded to do their own will, not God's. God would sent prophets to warn them of their misdeeds, imploring them to do God's will but they often ignored them or even killed them. Finally God sends His own son and they kill Him too.

The priest then compared this to the new covenant and the Catholic Church. Over the centuries, especially today, priests, bishops, and popes, who God has tasked with caring for his vineyard (the Church), have sometimes taken advantage of the fact that God seems to be "far away" and have acted as if the Church belongs to them, acting upon their own will and not God's. In turn God has sent new prophets to call the wayward clergy back to the truth, back to the right path. In our times, depending on your views, these prophets would be men like Abp. Lefevre, Abp. Vigano, Bp. Williamson, and the like. God has even sent the Blessed virgin Mary to warn us, and the powers that be have paid no heed. And just like some of the Jєωιѕн kings and priests of times past, the prophets are often ignored and silenced. In the parable, the owner of the vineyard finally sent his son to collect the fruits and the hired workers beat and killed the son. And likewise, when God the Father sent His Son He was crucified. Today, these wayward bishops and priests, including the pope, seem to be crucifying the Church itself, the very Body of Christ. The guilty men, without repentance, will be cast into the fires of Hell, just like the the owner of the vineyard said he would destroy the wicked men, in the parable.

I realize that this isn't anything new or something that's never been compared before, but I found it was an interesting parallel and I thought I'd share it. I find when I pray the psalms or read the old testament I find some possible parallels between the old Judaism and the Catholic Church. I know this is nothing new but sometimes it helps me to see the problems of today in a new light.

Yes. The Lord took the vineyard from the Jєωs and put it under the care of the Gentiles.  I wish the Lord would hurry up and destroy the reign of the modernists but I know we must be patient. Most likely the destruction of the modernists will come from the prophesied chastisement. Then Mary's immaculate heart will prevail and the era of peace can commense with good, orthodox, traditional Catholic men in charge of the vineyard.