04/10/2026
SERVING WITHOUT POSSESSING
In today’s Gospel of the Vinedressers (Matthew 21:33–43), Jesus presents a picture of human greed: tenants who forget they are merely caretakers and begin to act like owners.
When we fall into the trap of greed, we stop seeing life as a grace and start treating everything and everyone as something to claim, control, or possess.
This possessive mindset lies at the root of so much harm. When we view people entrusted to our care, whether our families, colleagues, or communities, as our own property, we inevitably restrict their freedom and diminish their dignity. Like the religious leaders of Jerusalem, we risk forgetting our true identity: we are not the owners of the vineyard; we are simply its stewards.
A true disciple, by contrast, lives with open hands, recognizing that everything is a gift from God. Nothing truly belongs to us, not even the people we love or serve.
St. Camillus de Lellis understood this truth. By seeing the poor and the sick as the very "Heart of God," he reminded us that those placed in our path are sacred entrustments. When we recognize others as God's precious gifts rather than objects for our own use or gratification, service transforms from a burden into an act of reverence.
May we have the grace to let go of possessiveness, honor the freedom of those around us, and cherish every person entrusted to our care as a sacred gift from the Master of the vineyard.
