Care for your soul.

Each of us owns something, e.g., a house, a car, a garden, etc. Thus, we know from experience that he takes care of something when someone owns something. He tries to protect and develop it. If a person takes good care of his possessions, it brings him joy, happiness, profit, and wealth.

In the Gospel, we hear of the householder who sent his servants and later his son to the vine dressers for a share of the harvest. But the vine dressers killed the servants and the son. What will the Lord do with the vine dressers when He returns? He will destroy the wicked without mercy and lease the vineyard to others.

The steward is God. The servants are the prophets. The Son is Jesus, and the vine dressers are us. The householder rented his vineyard and departed. Thus, God has given man the lease of this land, his life, and his soul. Man is to take care of himself as a good husbandman. Physically and spiritually. Both are important. Just as the vine dressers had to lay down their share of the harvest, each person will have to lay down their claim of their farming or husbandry. Let us manage well what God has given us so that we may be an excellent fruitful vineyard and produce a good harvest. We each have both beneficial and unfruitful places in our vineyards. We need to take care of both. If we take good care of them, they will produce a blessed harvest that we will enjoy, but all who have the opportunity to taste it will want. The crop may be a kind word, a loving act, or noticing another. Let us not be afraid to work for ourselves, for our salvation, and help our neighbors do the same.

It is essential to realize that a harvest will require us at the end of our lives what its quality and value will depend above all on us. What values would I pass on today if my farmer visited me? Would he find me working or idle? It does not depend on our vitality alone. We can be good stewards at any age.

Let us remember the role model and great example in blessed memory, the Holy Father John Paul II. He was able to work to the very end, not only for the salvation of his soul but also for the whole world’s salvation. Let us be encouraged by the witness of a man of this time whom we have known and who has reached out to the world as a entire. He showed us that it could be done. So let us work. Let us not be indifferent.

And finally, brothers and sisters, let us, above all, take care of our vineyard. Let us take care of our souls. Let us not neglect what is most important in our lives. Be assured that if we take good care of our spiritual life, it will bring us eternal joy and happiness.