Is 5:1-7/ Phil 4:6-9/ Mt 21:33-43
One of the things that we would remember from our school days would be nursery rhymes.
Whether the nursery rhymes were set in poem or in song, they would be easy to remember because they are short and they are simple.
Some nursery rhymes are used as a teaching tool. For example, the nursery rhyme “ABCDEFG” is used to teach the letters of the alphabet.
Some would just talk about the things we see around us. For example, “Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are”
Then there is this nursery rhyme “Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool”
Is there a meaning behind that nursery rhyme?
Well, a number of nursery rhymes reflect events in history.
The words of the nursery rhymes were used to make fun of the royal and political events of that time.
So for example, “Baa baa black sheep” was a nursery rhyme about the wool industry in England, and it was actually a political satire back in 1275 about the king and the export tax in which the king collected a tax on all exports of wool.
Another familiar nursery rhyme is Jack and Jill. (we might think it’s about potato chips)
But Jack and Jill referred to the French king Louis 16th and his wife Queen Marie Antoinette, who were beheaded during the Reign of Terror in 1793.
So the nursery rhyme “Jack and Jill” actually has a gruesome historical background.
Another familiar nursery rhyme is “Humpty Dumpty”. Have we ever wondered what the words meant?
Well, “Humpty Dumpty” was not a big egg as we might have thought, maybe because we saw some pictures of it.
Humpty Dumpty was actually a nickname for a large cannon that was used during the English Civil War in the 17th century.
Maybe you can find out more about it yourself.
So nursery rhymes may not be as simple as it seems.
There is an origin and a historical background and a meaning.
Similarly with a parable. A parable has been cleverly described as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
The parable of the vineyard that Jesus told in today’s gospel was taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
It was a song about the vineyard. Or it may have been a poem of even a nursery rhyme.
It was something familiar to the people and that was why Jesus used it.
But Jesus added on to it. The original song of the vineyard had it that the vineyard produced sour grapes, despite all the tender care it was given.
In the parable of Jesus, it was not the grapes that were sour, but the tenants.
Yes, sour, wicked, despicable, murderous tenants, who will do anything to get something that does not belong to them.
What we hear often are good tenants and wicked landlords. What we heard in the gospel is a parable of wicked tenants and a good landlord.
The meaning is clear and sharp. God’s people has rejected His care and betrayed His love.
It even hurt God so deeply that He had to say : What more could I have done for my people that I did not do.
What did God get in return for His love and care? He looked for peace but there was war; for true worship but there was idolatry; for justice but there was corruption and exploitation; for goodness but there was evil; for humility but there was pride; for holiness but there was sinfulness.
But in the end, the parable was about love and justice.
Yes, God is loving and patient, and what He can untie, He won’t cut away.
But the day will come when the tenants will have to be held accountable for their actions.
Today we are gathered as God’s chosen people, the Church. We are also God’s vineyard.
The parable is asking us, who are God’s chosen people : What fruits are we producing?
Yes, we are the Church, but are we a House of prayer?
What are we teaching our children about prayer? Or are we teaching our children anything about prayer at all?
This coming Friday we celebrate Children’s Day. In the spiritual aspect, what are we doing for our children?
If we don’t teach them to pray when they are young, then when are we going to teach them to pray?
The month of October, being the Month of the Rosary, will be a good time to inculcate in our children the traditional prayer of the Rosary.
Yet at the same time, there are also many simple prayers that take the form of nursery rhymes.
Today, the 2nd of October, if it is not a Sunday, the Church would celebrate the feast of the Guardian Angels.
I am sure we know the simple nursery rhyme prayer to our guardian angel – Angel of God my guardian dear, to whom His love entrusts me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
It’s a simple prayer, but it contains a deep truth. Each of us has a guardian angel who will protect us from evil and guide us in the way of truth.
Well, let us teach that prayer to our children. Pray with them the Guardian Angel prayer before they go off to school.
Or how about the Bedtime prayer – As I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, that if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.
A simple prayer but with a deep truth. One day all this will come to a close, and we will stand before the Lord and give an account of our lives.
And before that happens, let us pray to our guardian angels to help us guide our children and teach them to pray and bear a good harvest for the Lord.
Let us remember that we will be held accountable to our children, and also held accountable to the Lord.