Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 3, 2024
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes,
and the elders in parables.
“A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it,
dug a wine press, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey.
At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants
to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard.
But they seized him, beat him,
and sent him away empty-handed.
Again he sent them another servant.
And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully.
He sent yet another whom they killed.
So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed.
He had one other to send, a beloved son.
He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’
But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
So they seized him and killed him,
and threw him out of the vineyard.
What then will the owner of the vineyard do?
He will come, put the tenants to death,
and give the vineyard to others.
Have you not read this Scripture passage:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?”
They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd,
for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them.
So they left him and went away.
Twenty years ago, my youngest son developed a heroin addiction due to a difficult personal situation. My sister called me one evening and told me that I had to talk to my son because he feared that I was going to disown him over his struggles. The thought had never occurred to me, so I called him immediately that evening and arranged to meet him the following day. We briefly discussed his problems, and I tried to affirm him as best as I could, saying, “I’m your father, and there are no preconditions on my love for you.” My statement visibly moved him, and we hugged. I told him that I loved him, and he replied in kind.
From that day forward, he took his drug treatments seriously and has been clean all this time as a productive member of society. I couldn’t imagine life without him—losing him would have been devastating.
God gives us each of our children with their unique strengths and weaknesses. It is our call to form, instruct, and yes, of course, discipline, but above all, to offer them back to God in love, ushering them into the kingdom of God through our surrendering of any preconceived ideas of identity or success we might be tempted to place on them.
Jesus refers to himself today as the cornerstone and asks the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, “Have you not read this Scripture passage?” Sadly, they couldn’t see themselves or Jesus in this scripture passage and plotted to murder the Son of God. They couldn’t sacrifice their own preconceived ideas of identity or success to see love incarnate right in front of them.
May the Holy Spirit give eyes to see love every day.
Prayer
Almighty Father, giver of all that is good, hear us as we turn to you in prayer. Help us not to be like the tenants of the vineyard whose hearts and minds were full of jealousy and selfish desires. Help us this day to have our minds and hearts filled with the fruits your Holy Spirit so that we, working with your Son, might bring about a fitting harvest. Amen.