The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Second Week of Lent | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear the familiar parable about the landowner of a vineyard who leases it out to tenants to give to the owner produce at vintage time.

The owner of the vineyard is clearly God. The vineyard is the house of Israel, where God’s people are to be found. The tenants of the vineyard are the people of God. The servants that were sent and eventually beat and killed represent the prophets of old. Finally, the owner sends his son who is seized and killed. This son represents Jesus. As we see develop in the gospels, Jesus knew that he will eventually be killed by the scribes and Pharisees. They felt threatened by Jesus because of Him pointing out their sinfulness. Further, they were rejecting his authority as Son of God and Messiah.

Looking forward, we can now see the new vineyard as His Church. Jesus is calling each one of us to accept His message of love and salvation and is calling each one of us to bring this good news of salvation to other people in our lives.  This is how we can help develop a vintage that is acceptable to Jesus Christ. First our own acceptance of Him as Lord and Savior and then helping others to know that Jesus is indeed their Lord and Savior, as well.

In the conclusion of today’s gospel, we hear Jesus say to the scribes that the kingdom will be “…given to a people that will produce its fruit.” We produce good fruit by how we live out our call as Christians. First, by accepting that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose on Easter Sunday Morning, and by living out a life of loving God and our neighbor. Further, being human, we will at times fall short of this call of love. It is during these times that we should turn back to God in the sacrament of confession to show Jesus true love and repentance.

It is challenging and demanding to be a follower of Jesus Christ but let us pray to the Lord for the strength to do what He is asking of us: to accept Him as Savior and to bring this good news of salvation to those who are in most need of hearing it.

“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”

 

Scripture for this reflection can be found at Second Sunday of Lent | USCCB

In the gospel for this Second Sunday of Lent we hear of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Luke, chapter 9. I can only imagine the surprise and fear on Peter, John and James when Elijah and Moses appeared with Jesus. During this vision, we hear that Jesus “spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.” Everything that Moses and Elijah did in their lives pointed towards the coming of Jesus into the world for our salvation. Jesus is the fulfillment of all that happened in the Old Testament. Further, the Transfiguration is a glimpse of the future glory of the Resurrected Jesus on Easter Sunday morning. Finally, during this vision, we hear from God the Father: “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” It’s a call to follow Jesus and to grow in our vocation as Christians. We are called to have Jesus in the center of all who we are.

The way we fulfill God’s command of listening to Jesus is by the regular attendance at Sunday and daily Mass, by regular reading of scripture and by praying regularly throughout the day. In this way we will know and acknowledge that Jesus is present to us in our daily lives, and we’ll be able grow spiritually closer to Him in all we do.

Pope St. John Paul II, in reflecting on the Transfiguration, says that it is “a call to embrace the transformative power of faith and to follow Christ's example of self-giving love, even in the face of hardship and suffering.”

So, let us embrace Jesus as our Savior and prepare during this time of Lent for the suffering and death of Jesus on Good Friday and His Glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday morning.

I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you

 

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Saturday of the First Week of Lent | USCCB

In our gospel for today the Lord is asking us to do something that seems to go against our human nature: to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute you. This is very challenging for us to do. It's easy to love those we are naturally attracted to and have things in common with. But love those who wish us harm and want to hurt us? Really? But that is what the Lord is calling us to do. If we are to be truly his followers, we have to follow the way of love towards ALL people, and especially towards those that we find easy to hate and despise. 

In the political climate over the last several years it seems that "hate" is the "in-thing", and name calling is acceptable. Whether it's towards the current occupant of the White House or the previous one, it's become acceptable to hate and name call rather than to try to show love and respect while respectfully disagreeing with their policies. We are called to pray for our leaders, whether we like them or not.

Unfortunately, also, this hatred has spread to family and friends who may not share the same points of view. I find it very sad that, as Christians, we can't show the love that Christ is calling to have towards those we disagree with. We attack and name call rather than pray for each other.

Prayer is a powerful thing to do for those we may hate or despise. If we find it hard to pray for them using our own words, we can use the words that Jesus used from the cross: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Let us during this Lent follow the command of Love that Jesus is calling us to have for one another. And let us pray for those who we may feel a natural hatred for. All people, no matter how we may feel towards them, are made in the image of God and deserve our love and prayers.