Mt 21,33-43.45-46 – Friday of the Second Week of Lent
Our life is a vineyard that we did not plant, but which was entrusted to us. Even the most presumptuous person she cannot deny that she did not give herself life on her own: she received it. This original memory – the fact of being a gift even before being a protagonist – should reduce many illusions of grandeur and certain delusions of omnipotence which, sometimes, end up ruining existence.
In the parable of the winegrowers, however, we see an opposite attitude. Those farmers, to whom the vineyard was entrusted, they behave as if they were the masters. They lose the sense of limits and gratitude. When the master sends his servants, they mistreat them; when he sends his son, they make a ruthless and apparently logical reasoning: «This is the heir; come on, let’s kill him and we will have the inheritance!”. And they chase him out of the vineyard and kill him. The son is Christ. He is the one sent into the vineyard of the world. And we too are those winemakers every time we live as if everything belonged to us, as if we didn’t have to answer to anyone, as if God were an intruder to be eliminated.
We delude ourselves that removing the Son means finally becoming free. In reality, it is the beginning of self-destruction. When we forget who we are — creatures, not masters; managers, not owners — we lose our sense of reality. The temptation is always the same: believe we are enough for ourselves. It is an ancient dynamic, which runs through the entire history of salvation. The illusion of self-sufficiency swells us, seduces us, makes us feel strong. But it is a fragile force, destined to collapse.
The parable is not a generic accusation, but an invitation to conversion. It reminds us that we are tenants of a vineyard that is not ours: life, talents, relationships, time. Everything is received. And precisely for this reason everything is responsibility. We therefore ask for the humility to never forget that we are cared for even before being capable, sent before even being owners. Only in this way will the vineyard produce fruit. And only in this way will our freedom not become a weapon turned against ourselves.
Friday 6 March 2026 – (Friday of the 2nd Week of Lent)
