A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 21:33-43)
Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?”
Jesus speaks to the chief priests and elders about the kingdom of God through a parable about a landowner and his vineyard. The landowner is the Lord, and the tenants caring for the vineyard are the spiritual leaders of Israel. The servants the landowner sends are holy people and prophets sent by God to bear spiritual fruit and do God’s will. During harvest, when the landowner sends servants to obtain the produce of the harvest, the tenants beat, kill, and stone them. Others are sent, treated the same way. Finally, the landowner sends his son, whom the landowner believes they will respect. On seeing the son, the tenants say, foreshadowing Jesus’ passion and death: “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.” Jesus asks what the landowner will do when he returns. Today and at the Second Coming, how will we be found caring for the Lord’s vineyard—all of his gifts and his Church?
God, help me take in the richness in all of today’s readings. As in the first reading and responsorial psalm, the vineyard represents your kingdom on earth. We, your servants on earth are here to care for it. But often in my corner of the vineyard, rather than a crop of grapes, wild grapes grow. Parts of it lie in ruin, overgrown with thorns and briers. A sinner, I forget and cut myself off from you. Yet, as with the psalmist, I ask for your grace to bear good fruit: “Once again, O LORD of hosts, look down from heaven, and see; take care of this vine.” Lord, help me care for your gifts, the kingdom you have given me to nurture. It is, after all, yours: “by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes.”
From the second reading: “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Lord, grant me your peace; remain in me to produce lasting 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.