First reading 2 Peter 1:2-7
May you have more and more grace and peace as you come to know our Lord more and more.
By his divine power, he has given us all the things that we need for life and for true devotion, bringing us to know God himself, who has called us by his own glory and goodness. In making these gifts, he has given us the guarantee of something very great and wonderful to come: through them you will be able to share the divine nature and to escape corruption in a world that is sunk in vice. But to attain this, you will have to do your utmost yourselves, adding goodness to the faith that you have, understanding to your goodness, self-control to your understanding, patience to your self-control, true devotion to your patience, kindness towards your fellow men to your devotion, and, to this kindness, love.
Responsorial Psalm 90(91):1-2,14-16
My God, in you I trust.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
and abides in the shade of the Almighty
says to the Lord: ‘My refuge,
my stronghold, my God in whom I trust!’
His love he set on me, so I will rescue him;
protect him for he knows my name.
When he calls I shall answer: ‘I am with you.’
I will save him in distress and give him glory.
With length of life I will content him;
I shall let him see my saving power.
Gospel Mark 12:1-12
They seized the beloved son, killed him and threw him out of the vineyard
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes and the elders in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug out a trough for the winepress and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce from the vineyard. But they seized the man, thrashed him and sent him away empty-handed. Next he sent another servant to them; him they beat about the head and treated shamefully. And he sent another and him they killed; then a number of others, and they thrashed some and killed the rest. He had still someone left: his beloved son. He sent him to them last of all. “They will respect my son” he said. But those tenants said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” So they seized him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and make an end of the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this text of scripture:
It was the stone rejected by the builders
that became the keystone.
This was the Lord’s doing
and it is wonderful to see?
And they would have liked to arrest him, because they realised that the parable was aimed at them, but they were afraid of the crowds. So they left him alone and went away.
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Growing to become fully human
“…adding goodness to the faith that you have, understanding to your goodness, self-control to your patience, kindness towards your fellow men to your devotion, and to this kindness, love” (1st reading). Let these words of St. Peter resound in our hearts. To grow mature as Christians and conform to Christ, we need to keep adding Christ-like qualities to our faith: goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, fraternal kindness and, most important of all, love. None of us will fully develop all these traits in our lives. However, it does not mean that we should not try our best to put them into practice daily.
In the gospel, Jesus is the stone rejected by the builders and now He is the cornerstone, the keystone that God has firmly placed as the foundation of our lives. Rooted in Him, we will not be shaken in times of harsh storms we encounter. Grounded in Him, he will lead us to live a life of love we have been created for.
Reflective question:
What is the message from Jesus today?
What is the message from Jesus today?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year B” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.
