2nd FRIDAY OF LENT - Gospel (Matthew 21:33 – 43 & 45-46) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
- NHA CHUA CHA
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
FIRST READING - Gen 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28
"Here comes that dreamer! Let us kill him!"
A reading from the Book of Genesis
3 Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long ornamented tunic.[a] 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his brothers, they hated him so much that they could not say a kind word to him.
12 One day, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem, 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Are your brothers not tending our flocks at Shechem? Come and I will send you to them.” “I am ready,” Joseph answered.
17 The man told him, “They have moved on from here; in fact, I heard them say, ‘Let us go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. 18 They saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 They said to one another: “Here comes that dreamer! 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We will see then what comes of his dreams.”
21 [a]But when Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying: “We must not take his life.” 22 Then Reuben said, “Do not shed blood! Throw him into this cistern in the wilderness; but do not lay a hand on him.” His purpose was to save him from their hands and restore him to his father.
23 So when Joseph came up to his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the long ornamented tunic he had on; 24 then they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, balm, and resin to be taken down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers: “What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed.
28 Midianite traders passed by, and they pulled Joseph up out of the cistern. They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver[b] to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Mt 21:33-43, 45-46
"This is the heir. Come, let us kill him."
✠From the Gospel according to Matthew
33 “Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,[a] 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. 34 When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants[b] to the tenants to obtain his produce. 35 But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. 36 Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 [c]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.’ 39 [d]They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?” 41 They answered[e] 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.” 42 [f]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’?
43 [g]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.
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees[a] heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
2nd FRIDAY OF LENT - Gospel (Matthew 21:33 – 43 & 45-46)
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear people of God,
Today's Word of God calls upon all humanity to turn towards the death and renunciation of Jesus, and to no longer exclude God from our lives.
Today's Word of God also warns humanity about excluding God from our lives.
Why does God extend this invitation?
Every person in today's world is falling into depravity, living in sin greatly; so many have abandoned God, they no longer see God anywhere, they no longer feel God enveloping, shielding, and preserving their very being.
Why is that? Because they asked God for this and that, and did not get what they asked for, so they pushed Him aside. From then on, they live in lust, in sin, in the freedom of indulging in material wealth and pleasures.
God came into the world to bring eternal life to humanity through His death, His sacrifice, His self-renunciation, to be with humanity, to love, to care for, to protect, and to support.
Yet, people in today's world exclude God from themselves to live in indulgence, to live freely according to their own desires, following the temptations of Satan's lust, leading them on a path of depravity and sin that overwhelms them completely.
Today's Word of God calls all people to return to reconcile with God; to have absolute faith that only in God can eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven be brought for our humanity!
Only in God can the breath of life, the vitality, and the nourishment be brought to us, humanity, to live on this earth!
Only in God can joy and happiness in life be brought to our being.
All things of this world: passions, sins, lusts, power, high positions, material wealth, and indulgence will lead humanity to suffering, to death, and to eternal darkness in hell alongside Satan.
Do not seek what quickly perishes in this world, which belongs to Satan.
Instead, seek the Kingdom of Heaven, where God reigns.
Seek God, and do not exclude God from our life anymore.
As in today's Word of God, which presents the parable of the Owner of the Vineyard: the tenants killed his son and his servants, even though the landowner had supported these tenants by giving them work to sustain their very lives.
And yet, they turned their backs on the owner, murdering the very children whom the owner had sent.
Through this parable, God the Father emphasizes and teaches humanity about His love and mercy for humankind, as He sees people living in a state of abandonment, misery, suffering, sin, and the darkness brought about by Satan's temptations.
He sent His Son into the world to save humanity, to walk alongside us, to love us, to care for and protect us, and to give His own death in exchange for our own lives, so that we may have eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
And yet, we exclude God from our lives, chasing after sinful passions and lusts, prideful egos, power, selfishness, hatred, division, envy, judgment, condemnation, mutual exclusion, and the killing of one another.
Through today's Word of God, God the Father calls upon humanity to love as God calls to love, to fear Him, and to receive the graces He bestows upon us to live a life of goodness right here on earth, right in this present life, by loving, honoring, and fearing God above all else, and to do all that He has commanded.
These are the graces and the beautiful teachings found in the Holy Scripture, in the Real Present Word of God, the Eternal Word of God of old and present, and the Word of the Holy Spirit acting upon our lips, in our mouth, in our hearts, in our minds; which are love, morality, holiness, fasting, pray without ceasing, sacrifice, doing all things according to God the Father’s holy will, sacrificing ourselves to love and serve our brothers and sisters gratuitously, as God calls us to do.
Always place God above all things, always direct towards God, always make God our inheritance, our guide, our director, and our only Father in this earthly life and in the life to come.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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