Tag: vineyard

“The temple of his body.” | Third Sunday of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 2:13-25)

The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

As Jesus drives out the merchants and money changers from the temple, he drives out with them what they sold: oxen, sheep, and doves. To those who sold doves, the offering of the poor, he said: “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” In order to identify himself as the new temple, Jesus cleansed the temple of its baggage. “Destroy this temple,” he says to the Jews who look for a sign from him, “and in three days I will raise it up.” Jesus is the sign and the signified, the temple of the body, the one who points to the Father and the temple where the Father dwells. John concludes the passage by bringing the context of the Passover to Jesus’ actions in the temple. During that time, John tells us, “many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing.”

Father in heaven, help me recognize in Jesus the temple of the body. True God and true man, Jesus knows human nature and from that nature spoke the command to love you above all else and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Teach me, Lord, to see that wherever you dwell, there is holiness unblemished by material concerns and a call for true reverence and worship. Give me the grace to comprehend what I have in the Blessed Sacrament—that the body of Christ is there in the real presence. Keep me in your care, Lord, with the conviction to keep holy what is holy and worship you in reverence with my whole heart.

From the responsorial psalm: “The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.”

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.

“He was lost and has been found.” | Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 15:1-3, 11-32)

The father said to him, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Jesus responds to the Pharisees in a way that is relevant for all of us. As the passage begins, the Pharisees criticize Jesus because of the tax collectors and sinners who are drawn to him and listen to him. In the parable, the son demands his inheritance and then squanders it within days, living loosely and sinfully. After spending all he has, a severe famine strikes and the son finds employment tending swine. Far from home and at last coming to his senses, the son says to himself: “I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.'” While the son is a long way off from his house, the father sees him and runs out to meet him and embraces and kisses him. Then they begin celebrating with a feast. The older son, disturbed by what this might mean, questions his father. The mercy the father shows for both sons is just and proportional. So it is with God: his mercy is inexhaustible and available to all who humbly seek him and repent.

God, this message is meant for all; it is a universal call to repentance, not for the sake of wallowing in weakness but to see and experience the mercy you extend to all. Help me see that this story is meant for all but also your word speaking to me personally. The prodigal son recognizes wrongdoing and the need to return home to the father; the father forgives the son and celebrates his return in the joy of reconciliation. Thank you, Father, for your mercy; in your mercy restore me!

From the responsorial psalm: “He will not always chide, nor does he keep his wrath forever. Not according to our sins does he deal with us, nor does he requite us according to our crimes. The Lord is kind and merciful.”

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.

Friday of the Second Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 21:33-43, 45-46)

Therefore, I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.

The parable Jesus tells the Pharisees represents the repeated rejection and mistreatment of God’s chosen messengers throughout salvation history. The servants in the parable sent by the landowner represent the prophets who were sent to the people of Israel to reconcile them with God through repentance. Instead of responding positively to their message, though, the tenants respond with violence and disregard for their authority, just as the religious leaders rejected the landowner’s son, Jesus the Messiah. In this parable, Jesus calls us to be receptive to his word and to be faithful disciples in obedience to the Father as his people.

God, help me understand the meaning of this parable as it relates to me in the modern day. Throughout salvation history, you have spoken to your chosen people through the prophets and through your commandments. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. Give me the grace to see the big picture: you sent your messengers first, and they were mistreated. In the fullness of time, you sent Jesus, whom they rejected and killed. Jesus paid the ultimate price for us; what greater love is there? Help me listen out for you in the scriptures and as you speak to me through the events of this day. Let me hear your voice, Lord!

Verse before the Gospel: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son; so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.”

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.

“It is wonderful in our eyes.” | Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

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.