WE ARE THE SON'S INHERITANCE

SAINT PIUS OF PIETRELCINA (PADRE PIO), PRIEST

Prov 30:5-9; Ps 119:28,72,89,101,104,163; Lk 9:1-6

The Vineyard of the Son of God

The vineyard of the God of the hosts is the Son’s inheritance. The Son is one with the Father and knows the Father’s will. Thus, he cultivates the vineyard to the Father’s taste. The vineyard is his inheritance, for all that the Father has belongs to the Son. The Son is the Word, and the Word was with God from the beginning; through him all things were made. Since all things were made through him, all things will be restored to the Father through him. John tells us that the Word enlightens all men who come into the world. Therefore, the Son calls and instructs all who are employed to work in the vineyard. We are the vineyard of the Lord; the work to be done in us must be carried out with the Son’s specification. To be unwilling to work in the vineyard is to attempt to usurp what is not ours, but the Son’s inheritance. To put it simply, our temporal lives do not belong to us, but to the Son, for he made us and we belong to him. So, the Incarnation of the Son is his appearance in his vineyard to work and cultivate his vineyard according to the will of his Father. His whole human life, passion, and death are for this purpose.

The Son, who is the Word, created the vineyard and comes to redeem and renew the vineyard, which he inherits from the Father. He worked in the vineyard in his humanity and as a mystical man. In this latter sense, he employs all of us to work in the vineyard. So, none is admitted into the vineyard without the intention to die to self and live for the Son of Man. This is the necessary condition for the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and continue Christ’s saving work through each of us. On this basis we have posited the necessity of the Sacrament of Baptism as an initiation into Christ and to work in the vineyard. To be employed in the vineyard one must be baptised, at least by desire. The book of Proverbs says the same thing: we must not add our private desire to the word of God. “Every word of God is unalloyed; he is the shield of those who take refuge in him. To his words make no addition, lest he reprove you and know you for a fraud.” We shun all evil desires to work gainfully in the vineyard of the Lord. One important desire is what the Lord teaches us to petition the Father, namely, our daily bread or wage. Proverbs put it this way: “Two things I beg of you, do not grudge me them before I die: keep falsehood and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches, grant me only my share of bread to eat.” The two are one; for the will of the Father is both truth and food for us.

When we come to the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, divested of self-interest and eager to do the will of God, the Son gives us his divine authority to work in the vineyard. “Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” By sending them out, he shows that the Lord’s vineyard is among men; by conferring authority and power on them to heal and set men free, he demonstrates that the vineyard lies within each human person. He strengthens the weak through the abundant grace he offers through the Church and her Sacraments; and by his real and sacramental presence he heals the sick and sets all who are willing free from the bondage of demonic powers. To admonish us to trust in the divine will for all things, the Lord added: “Take nothing for the journey: neither staff, nor haversack, nor bread, nor money; and let none of you take a spare tunic.”

Saint Pius of Pietrelcina carried out these ministries in an exceptional way. He was born in the small village of Pietrelcina in southern Italy and joined the Capuchin friars at the age of 16. He became a priest after seven years in formation. He spent fifty years at the monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo. His exceptional spirituality attracted many people. He was a spiritual director, confessor, and intercessor for many people. The Lord worked many miracles through him and his prayers. He had the stigmata. This gift was a physical and mystical demonstration of the spiritual transformation each of us is supposed to undergo into Jesus Christ as we work in the vineyard of the Lord. He died a few days after the fiftieth anniversary of his reception of the stigmata, and over 100,000 people attended his funeral. May his prayers aid us to keep our focus on the Son of Man.

Let us pray: Almighty ever-living God, who, by a singular grace, gave the Priest Saint Pius a share in the Cross of your Son and, by means of his ministry, renewed the wonders of your mercy, grant that through his intercession we may be united constantly to the sufferings of Christ, and so brought happily to the glory of the resurrection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.