BEADS OF JOY 03-02-18
“The Lord’s Doing”
©2018 James Dacey, Jr. OFS
My Friends,
Today’s Gospel:
Matthew 21:33-46 (The Parable of The Tenants)
“Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, `They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, `This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.' And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons."
Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: `The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. But when they tried to arrest him, they feared the multitudes, because they held him to be a prophet.”
Reflection:
Beginning Thought: They cannot under any circumstance bring themselves to accept Jesus Christ, period.
Now look at this parable with that in mind. The tenants (the world) hated the vineyard owner (God) so much, that they killed His Son (Jesus). How horribly sad, but true this teaching is even in today’s time. Jesus is always rejected and hated. But we know that because of His love for us and His obedience to the Father’s Will; Jesus faithfully, even in the face of severe rejection and hatred fulfills His Father’s Will. There is so much to be learned here. Jesus is setting a path that we too shall follow and be on with Him. This journey will lead us to the Father. Our death to self and rejection from the world; will lead to triumph and victory into the arms of Jesus for all eternity.
We must not submit to fear. We must live our lives, fully trusting in Jesus and staying committed to our calling. Everyone has some sort of a calling in this life. Some of us will be leaders, some of us will be the foundational support of those leaders, while others will be the backbone support of the communities that surround us. We all have some sort of a significant role to play in the Father’s Will in this life. Every person’s role is critical, and every person’s job is vitally important. While someone’s voice must be heard, there is someone who needs to make sure it can be heard. While a Priest needs to preach, teach and lead; someone needs to assist him in the house the church has provided. A train cannot get from point A to point B without everything in-between being built, managed, maintained and protected to make sure the train makes it to its destination.
We must all work together, like those in the vineyard were supposed to. They let their hatred and pride turn into murder and in the end; they to lost everything through their rejection of the owner’s son. If we all work together, we will all make this journey together. A book doesn’t get printed by the author, it gets printed by the publisher. A car isn’t built by the designer, it gets built by the assembly line. Food doesn’t appear on the shelves in the store, it must go through a process to get approved for consumption and sale. Everything takes a process and time and lots of people to be involved to make everything happen. We must have unity and peace to be most effective in the Father’s Will; but we must not be discouraged if we don’t. Prayer and unconditional love must be present throughout all of this.
Pondering these thoughts today: Today’s gospel was about Rejection. The rejection of the vineyard owner from the tenants resulted in: Nothing accomplished, nothing done, everyone lost! We must learn not to reject the Father’s Will in our lives. Yes, I know His Will isn’t always so easily spotted and understood; but if we trust and have faith in His love for us, we know that He will show it to us. Today let us continue to trust in the Lord in all that we do in His Name. Jesus died so that we might live. Let us in turn live for Him in all that we do.
The original text comes from a 6-Day Scriptural Series I wrote on Rejection, last year (2017). This was Day 1. To this day, that 6-Day Series continually gets worldwide traffic: http://beads-of-joy-blog.blogspot.com/2017/06/rejection-day-16.html
LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!
Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
Today is Friday: We pray the Sorrowful Mysteries:
The Sorrowful Mysteries
1. Agony on the Garden (Sorrow for sin) –Matt 26:36-46
2. Scourging at the Pillar (Purity) –Mark 15:1-16
3. Crowning with Thorns (Moral Courage) –Matt 27:27-31
4. Carrying of the Cross (Patience) –Mark 15:20-22
5. The Crucifixion (Perseverance) –Luke 23:33-46
Thank you Lord for loving us so much…
Rosary Man Jim’s Sorrowful Reflection: http://beads-of-joy-blog.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-sorrowful-mysteries_11.html
MY FIRST BOOK. MORE TO COME…
