The parable of the wicked tenants is well known and I have listened to it in the past feeling it was an assurance that I was on the right side of things. Certainly this parable is only about those people who do not recognize Jesus as the Christ, Savior and Redeemer, the Son of God. A parable to the Chief Priests and Pharisees who connived to have Jesus killed or now for those who spitefully reject Him and His Church? A light came to me while listening to this gospel reading during mass that this parable, like so many things that come from God, has another deeper meaning as well.
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
Matthew 21: 33-46
In fact we, ourselves, are the fields of God. All of our acts/fruits are His by right and when we act of our own will instead of His we are denying Him His due.
Further in the Bible from this Gospel St Paul writes to the Corinthians telling them that he and Apollos are merely servants of God doing His work, planting and watering. But we are the fields of God where they work but all the growth is of and from God Himself.
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:5-9
In the Volumes the land and earth are common images of the humanity of the creature, even the name Adam means red/fair earth. An even clearer example is found in the book, The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, where she speaks of her birth, the earth of her Humanity and all the flowerings and prodigies that came from it, meaning her acts in the Divine Will.
'Child of my Heart, my birth was prodigious; no other birth can be said to be similar to mine. I enclosed within Myself the Heaven, the Sun of the Divine Will, and also the earth of my humanity - but a blessed and holy earth, which enclosed the most beautiful flowerings. And even though I was just newly born, I enclosed the prodigy of the greatest prodigies: the Divine Will reigning in Me, which enclosed in Me a Heaven more beautiful, a Sun more refulgent than those of Creation, of which I was also Queen, as well as a sea of graces without boundaries, which constantly murmured: “Love, love to my Creator.” '
The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, Day 10
Now Mary was immaculate from the moment of her conception and all her acts came from the fount of the Divine Will. She did not contain the stain of original sin or it's effects denying life to her human will from the moment of her conception. And these divine acts formed fruit in the manner of suns. Lights that give to all and give eternally. These are the types of fruitful acts that we were originally created to do, that should come forth from humanity, that God is still owed, but because of original sin and it's effects we are then prevented from doing them as was intended by God.
"You must know that I knew my human will only to keep it sacrificed in homage to my Creator. My life was all of Divine Will; from the first instant of my Conception, I was molded, warmed and placed into Its light, which purified my human seed with Its power, in such a way that I was conceived without original sin. Therefore, if my Conception was spotless and so glorious as to form the honor of the Divine Family, it was only because the Omnipotent Fiat poured Itself upon my seed, and I was conceived pure and holy. So, if the Divine Will had not poured Itself upon my seed more than a tender mother, in order to prevent the effects of original sin, I would have encountered the sad destiny of the other creatures, of being conceived with original sin. Therefore, the primary cause was, entirely, the Divine Will; to It be honor, glory, thanksgiving, for my having been conceived without original sin.
The Queen of Heaven in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, Day 1
Such is one who operates in my Will. Her acts acquire the continuity - they are always repeated without ever ceasing. They are the true Sun which, from the moment It was created by God, has given Its first act of light - but so great, as to fill Heaven and earth with one single act. And It repeats this act always, without ever ceasing, in such a way that all can take Its act of light, though one was the act that constituted itself act of perennial light for all. If the Sun could repeat Its act of light, one would see as many Suns for as many acts as It could repeat; but since the act of light that It did is one, one sees only one Sun and no more. But what the Sun did not do the Sovereign Queen did, and one who operates in my Will does also: as many Suns for as many acts, and these Suns are fused together, though distinct among them in beauty, in light, in the glory that they give to their Creator, and in the universal good that they make descend upon all creatures. These acts have a divine power; by virtue of these acts the Most Holy Virgin could obtain the coming of the Word upon earth, and by virtue of these acts my Kingdom will come upon earth. One act repeated incessantly in my Fiat has a conquering, enrapturing and enchanting virtue before Our Divinity. That continuous repetition in the Divine Volition is the strength of the soul, the invincible weapon that debilitates her Creator and conquers Him with weapons of love, and He feels honored to let Himself be conquered by the creature.”
Vol. 24, June 25, 1928
“Good daughter, the great good of living of a Divine Volition is surprising and almost incomprehensible to the human creature. You should know that all that which one does of good, of sanctity in my Divine Will, they are none other than seeds that germinate in the field of the soul, putting forth as so many seeds of Divine light, that put forth a beginning that won’t have an end, because all that which one does in my Divine Will is sowed, germinates, grows in an admirable way, upon the earth while she lives, but the completion will be formed in Heaven, the ultimate development, the variety of beauties, the tones, the most beautiful and specious tints, will be given in the Celestial Country.
Vol. 21, June 8, 1931
While on earth we may never fully realize the beauty and delight of Jesus' work and harvest in our souls. We may even feel the weight and the seeming abandonment of Jesus but these sufferings are akin to the field of our souls being worked and tilled to ready it for another sowing.
“My daughter, why do you afflict yourself so much? Abandon yourself in Me and let Me do; and when it seems to you that everything declines and dies, your Jesus will make everything rise again, but more beautiful and more fecund. You must know that the soul is my field in which I work, sow and harvest; but my favorite field is the soul who lives in my Will. In this field my work is delightful; I do not get muddy when I sow, because my Will has converted it into a field of light. Its ground is virgin, pure and celestial, and I amuse Myself very much in sowing little lights into it, almost like dew which forms the Sun of my Will.
"Oh! how beautiful it is to see this field of the soul all covered with many drops of light, and as they gradually grow, many suns will form. This sight is enchanting; all Heaven is enraptured at the sight of it, and they are all attentive on looking at the Celestial Farmer who cultivates this field with such great mastery, and who possesses a seed so noble as to convert it into sun. Now, my daughter, this field is mine and I do with it whatever I want. Once these suns have formed, I collect them and take them to Heaven, as the most beautiful conquest of my Will, and then I return to the work of my field. So, I put everything upside down, and the little daughter of my Will feels everything ending, everything dying within her. In the place of the suns, so refulgent with light, she sees the drops of light which I am sowing, and she thinks that everything is perishing. How you deceive yourself - this is the new harvest that must be prepared; and since I want to make it more beautiful than the previous one, and make it larger so as to be able to double my harvest, at first sight the work seems to be more difficult, and the soul suffers more. But those pains are like strokes of the hoe into the ground, which make the seed sink deeper down so as to make it germinate more safely, with greater fecundity and beauty. Don’t you see, when a field is harvested, how squalid and poor it remains? But wait until it is sown again, and you will see it more flowery than before. Therefore, let me do; and you, by living in my Will, will always be at work with Me; we will sow the little drops of light together, and we will compete to see who sows more. So, we will amuse ourselves, now in sowing, now in resting – but always together. I know, I know what your strongest concern is – that I might leave you. No, no, I do not leave you; one who lives in my Will is inseparable from Me.”
Vol. 16, Oct. 20, 1923
“Blessed daughter, it is I who forms the celestial atmosphere inside and outside of the creature, because no sooner than she enters into my Divine Volition than I put myself to watch of the act that she goes doing, and she forms the ground with her acts, and I form the divine seed in order to cast in the act of the creature. So that her acts serve as earth, and I, Celestial Farmer, by filling her with my seeds I make use of it to gather the harvest of the works that are done in my Will. Do you see therefore what the continuations of the acts done in the Divine Will serve to? They serve to give me the labor and the occasions to never leave the creature, because she always gives Me to do. And I don’t want nor can I leave empty a ground so precious, formed in my Will and exposed to the vivifying rays of the Divine Sun. Hence He calls you to the work in my Volition and you call me, and oh, how very sweet it is to work together in my Fiat! It is a labor that doesn’t tire; rather it is bearer of rest and of the most beautiful conquests.”
Vol. 30, July 14, 1932
"More so that every act done by the Divine Will in the act of the creature is a divine seed that germinates in it. The act prepares the earth where my Will casts his seed in order to make it germinate into (a) divine plant, because according to the seed that is cast in the bosom of the earth, that plant is born. If the seed is of flowers, the flower is born; if the seed is of fruit, the fruit is born. Now my Divine Will in every act of the creature casts a distinct seed: there he casts the seed of sanctity, there the seed of love, in others the seed of goodness, and so on. How many more acts [the creature] does in Him, so much more earth is prepared where my Volition prepares his distinct seed in order to fill the earth of these human acts. Whence one who lets herself be dominated by my Divine Will, is beautiful, is specious; every act of hers, containing the variety of divine seeds, is a note of her Creator: one act says sanctity, another mercy, others justice, wisdom, beauty, love; in short one sees a divine harmony, with such order, that shows the finger of God working in her. Do you see therefore the necessity of the act of the creature, in order to be able to try the earth where to enclose our divine seed? Otherwise where do we cast it? We don’t hold any earth. Therefore there is [earth] formed with her acts, in order to be able to germinate with our seeds our Divine Being in the creature. Therefore one who does and lives in our Divine Volition can be called She who reproduces her Creator and lodges in herself He who has created her.”
Vol. 30, Nov. 16, 1931
Jesus tells Luisa that it is God's aim to form, grow and mature completed acts in the creature but this can only occur in a creature living in the Divine Will. When we don't live in the Divine Will we break his acts and they remain incomplete and as handicapped. When we operate with our own will we frustrate the plans of the owner of vineyard from his designs on it. Jesus clearly states that the earth represents his creatures and the ungrateful servants are our own human volitions which frustrate his works and kill his designs.
“My good daughter, only my Volition maintains and conserves intact, with a continuous act, the beginning of the Creation of the creature. Our Supreme Being gave the beginning and animated her life with the power of our divine breath; this breath should not ever be broken, more so that when we give and we do an act we never withdraw it, and this serves in order to form the completed work of the being that we put forth to the light. This first act of ours, while it serves to give beginning and to form the life, the continuation, it serves in order to make of the creature a completed act of ours, and as we breathe (in) her thus we form in her our continuous acts in order to complete our divine life. Our breath, as we give it, forms sip by sip the growth of this life of ours in the creature. Our breath, as it gives itself, thus it forms our completed act of sanctity, of beauty, of love, of goodness and so on, and when we have filled her so much, in a way that we don’t have anywhere more to put our act in the creature, because she is limited, our breath ceases and her life finishes in earth, and in order to immortalize our breath in Heaven, we transport our fully grown life in her, our completed act, into our Celestial Country as triumph of our Creation. There is no more beautiful rarity than these lives and completed acts of ours in the Celestial sojourn, they are the narrators of our power, of the enthusiasm of our love, they are speaking voices of our omnipotent breath, that alone could form the divine life, our completed act in the creature. But do you know where we can form this life and this completed act of ours, for how much it is possible and imaginable for a creature to receive from her Creator? [In] the soul that lives in our Divine Will and lets herself be dominated by Him. Ah! only in her can we form the divine life and develop our completed act; our Volition disposes the creature to receive all the qualities and divine colors, and our breath not ever interrupted, as expert brush/(artist), paints with admirable and inimitable mastery the most beautiful tones and forms there the images of our Supreme Being; if it might not be for these images there would not have been that great work of the Creation, nor great work of the power of our creative hands, creating the Sun, the Sky, the stars and all the universe would have been a beautiful nothing for our power. But instead all our power, the art of our divine arts, the indescribable excess of our intense love, it is to do our completed act in the creature with forming our life in her and so much is our gratification, that we ourselves remain enraptured in our act that we develop. For us to do a completed act it is the greatest glory that glorifies us most, it is the most intense love that praises us most, it is the power that praises us continually. But alas! for one who doesn’t live in our Volition, how many broken acts of ours, without conclusion, how many divine lives of ours hardly conceived or at the most born without growing. [Creatures] break the continuation of our work and bind our arms without being able to go ahead; they put us in the impotence of a master who holds his earth and is prevented by his ungrateful servants from doing the work that he wants to in his earth, to sow it, to plant the plants that he wants; poor proprietor, to hold sterile earth, without the fruit that he could receive, for reason of his iniquitous servants. Our earths are creatures and the ungrateful servant is the human volition, which opposing ours with hers puts us in impotence from forming our divine life in them. Now you should know that in Heaven one doesn’t enter if one doesn’t possess our divine life, or at least conceived or born, and such will be the glory, the beatitude of the blessed, for how much growth has been formed of our life in them. Now what will be the difference for one who has hardly let him be conceived, be born or grown with little proportions, from one who has let us form complete life? So much will be the difference, that it is incomprehensible to the human creature. Those will be as the people of the Celestial kingdom, instead our images will be as princes, ministers, the noble court, the regal army of the great King. Therefore one who does my Divine Will and lives in Him can say: ‘I do all and I also belong from this earth to the family of my Celestial Father.’”
Vol. 29, October 12, 1931
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