Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Matthew 21, 33-43

After wrongdoing, an urgent desire for a higher justice than human arises in a person’s soul. God’s revelation gives us believers a satisfying answer: God is supremely just—the only one who can deservedly reward and punish everyone. Even in early life, his justice will be manifested more than once, but it will be fully applied only in eternity.

Lord Jesus spoke more about the love, goodness, and mercy of the heavenly Father than about his justice, but quite obviously, he also talks about God’s justice in several parables. Even today’s fable about the tenants declares the characteristic of God’s will – righteousness. The tenants did not keep their word; they caused him further wrongs and wrongs.

The chief priests and elders knew that this applied to them, but they could give no other answer than we heard, “He will destroy the wicked without mercy and will rent the vineyard to other vine dressers.”  God truly has a sense of justice and will justly hold accountable anyone who commits iniquity and punishes him righteously. But he will not miss even the slightest good that a person does. Not even a glass of water, according to the words of the Lord Jesus – given out of love, will not go unrewarded (cf. Mt 10:42). God will punish others for doing evil and punish us justly.

And on the other hand, he will reward for good, not only us but all those who do good. Even those we do not indulge, are angry with or have a heavy heart. Therefore, the truth about God’s justice, on the one hand, should fill us with peace and certainty that nothing good we do, even if hidden from people and the world, even that tiny, almost invisible good deed, will not remain without a deserved reward. On the other hand, the exact truth about God’s justice should fill us with awe and lead us to avoid sin and be afraid to commit even the most minor sin. The conclusion from this reasoning can be the following: God is just, but he is not cruel or merciless. Therefore, let us be filled with confidence.

However, many miss her. They can say: An innocent child died. Is it justice? – I got hit by a car, and it ruined my life. Why did God allow this? – I have been saving all my life to build a house. And the flood took it from me. Why didn’t God intervene? – I was happy in my family with my wife and children. And I got an incurable disease – leukemia. Is that fair? It is not easy, brothers and sisters, to answer these questions. The answer is faith. Faith is God’s dimension in us. We will fully understand God’s justice only in eternity. We are made in the image of God. Let us also strive to be fair to God and people.

We often complain about the injustice of others. Let’s start with justice! We already know (from the speech on Sunday, August 30) that Thomas Morus, a martyr for loyalty to Rome, was unjustly convicted and executed in England. When he was led to the gallows, he held a cross and occasionally raised his head to heaven. He was praying. Only the crowd confused him at times. Some, especially his enemies, shout at him blindly. A kind of foolish woman who had lost a court case with him accompanied him, screaming that he had condemned her unjustly. Exhausted and weakened by prison, Thomas Morus raised his head, looked at the woman, and said: “Lady, I remember your case well. And I can tell you: If I had to decide your case today when I stand before the Judge of heaven and earth, I would pass the same sentence.”

In that awareness, winter, brothers, and sisters, let us act that one day we will be accountable before God. Our mission is to do good. This is how today’s thought from the verse before the Gospel will be fulfilled in our lives: “…I have chosen you and appointed you to go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain.” (Jn 15, 16)  So we can also manage our desire for higher justice.