From the responsorial psalm: “The king sent and released him, the ruler of the peoples set him free. He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 21:33-43, 45-46, today’s readings)
“Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?”
Jesus tells the chief priests and elders a parable about a landowner who plants a vineyard, establishes it and then leases it to tenants. During the harvest, he sends his servants to collect the produce, but the tenants mistreat and kill them. When he sends his son, thinking they will respect him, they instead plot to kill him so they can seize his inheritance. Jesus then asks what the landowner will do to those tenants, and he reveals that they will face severe consequences for their actions: the vineyard will be given to others who will produce its fruits. The religious leaders realize Jesus is speaking about them and become angry, but they fear the crowd, who see Jesus as a prophet, so they do nothing to him. Jesus speaks to all of us in this parable, inviting us to respond to God’s call to be responsible stewards of his gifts.
God, help me see in the parable of the vineyard the prefiguring of the passion and death of Jesus. When the Pharisees are able to grasp what Jesus is saying to them, their hearts remain set on arresting him and by this obstructing your will toward the salvation of all people. The responsorial refrain is “Remember the marvels the Lord has done.” Give me the grace today to become aware of the way my words and actions nurture the fruit of the vineyard or prevent its growth and to recognize that I can choose to be its heir. Strengthen me with the Eucharist, Lord, to bring forth your kingdom and make me know the particular way you made me to produce its fruit.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.