Surrender in His love
(jw.org)
Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Mt. 21:33-43. 45-46 “The Parable of the Tenants“
March 22, 2019 | Friday
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
“Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it,
dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
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?”
They answered him,
“He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times.”
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?
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.
Today’s Reflection
Who of us is like the tenant that is so greedy and ready to take life of others for the benefit of oneself? We are in the world of full of illusion and self-centeredness is always what we cater. “Who cares?” is their motto and “mine” is their business. We always forget that we are only stewards of the creation and through his goodness He entrusted to us the dominion over it. In this Gospel, we are compelled to reconcile and turn back to God who is the source of life and dispel wickedness in our hearts to surrender in His love. God is so gracious and merciful that he gave his only Son for the sins of the world. We are indeed living in the world of full of rejection but still Christ is accepting us as a child of God and always calls us to repent and believe in the Gospel. Let us all remember the marvels the Lord has done for us.
