Friday, March 06, 2015
2nd Week of Lent
1st Reading: Gen 37:3–4, 12–13a, 17b–28a
Gospel: Mt 21:33–43, 45–46
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders, “Listen to another example: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another and stoned another.
Again the owner sent more servants, but they were treated in the same way.
“Finally, he sent his son, thinking: ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they thought: ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him and his inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?” They said to him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others who will pay him in due time.”
And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone. This was the Lord’s doing; and we marvel at it. Therefore I say to you: the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to a people who will yield a harvest.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these parables, they realized that Jesus was referring to them. They would have arrested him, but they were afraid of the crowd who regarded him as a prophet.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
el in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Today’s Gospel parable is a story of contrasting paradigms. The contrast revolves around the manner each camp interpreted the sending of the landowner’s only son. On the one hand, the landowner considers his son powerful enough to evoke respect from his wayward tenants. So he sends his son over to claim his share of the produce of the vineyard. But the tenants see the son differently. They see in the destruction of the son the opportunity to own the land they do not own. So they kill him.
The reason for this contrast in paradigm is disparity in values. The owner values justice while the tenants values material possessions (vineyard). The Gospel issues this warning by way of a question: “Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?”
Acceptance of God’s offer of salvation requires a paradigm shift. If we remain materialistic we will only go for material gain in everything we do, forgetting that we have souls to save. This Lenten Season is our opportunity to revisit our paradigm and align it with God’s Will. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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