Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Mark 12:1-12

June 1, 2026 | Monday

Today’s Gospel

Using parables, Jesus went on to say, “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenants and went abroad. 

In due time, he sent a servant to receive from the tenants the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized the servant, struck him and sent him back empty-handed. Again, the man sent another servant. They also struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent another, and they killed him. In the same way they treated many others: some they beat up and others they killed. One was still left, his beloved son. And so, last of all, he sent him to the tenants, for he said, ‘They will respect my son.’ 

But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let’s kill him and the property will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” 

And Jesus added, “Have you not read this text of the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone; this is the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it?” They wanted to arrest him, for they realized that Jesus meant this parable for them, but they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

 Today’s Reflection

The tenants in the parable were punished because they wanted the vineyard all for themselves. On their part, the chief priests and scribes refused to consider Jesus’ message because of their personal interests, paired with the external threat of the Romans. And so, they had the innocent Jesus condemned to death to preserve their peace, only to lose it when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem around 70 AD. Sometimes, our personal interests can hinder our openness to the will of God. May we not simply care but be open to God’s will and His grace. May we live in accordance with God’s plan.

/Vulnerasti, 2026