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“The cross is not the suffering tied to natural existence, but the suffering tied to being Christians. The cross is never simply a matter of suffering, but a matter of suffering and rejection for the sake of Jesus Christ, not for the sake of some other arbitrary behavior or confession.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer
(". . . suffering tied to being Christian." How do you experience this in your life? How does it lead you to a closer walk with Christ?)
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Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a; Psalm 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21
Mt 21:33-43, 45-46
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
“Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
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.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them,
thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’
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.’
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?”
They answered 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.”
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?
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.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,
they knew that he was speaking about them.
And although they were attempting to arrest him,
they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“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.” —Genesis 37:27
To Joseph’s brothers, brotherhood meant not killing their brother but selling him. We Christians are brothers and sisters with one another. At Mass, we are repeatedly addressed as brothers and sisters. Does brotherhood and sisterhood mean more to us than it did to Joseph’s brothers?
Brotherhood and sisterhood should mean that:
• We are one as Jesus and the Father are one (Jn 17:21).
• “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members share its joy” (1 Cor 12:26).
• We share our very lives with our brothers and sisters in Christ (1 Thes 2:8).
• We are willing to die for our brothers and sisters (1 Jn 3:16).
Christian brotherhood and sisterhood are so important to God that “the Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14). Therefore, Jesus calls us to be adopted children of God. He is our Brother (see Heb 2:11). On Judgment Day, we will be judged according to what we have done or not done to the least of our brothers and sisters (Mt 25:40, 45).
Although Christian brotherhood and sisterhood are essential to Christianity, they are widely ignored. Therefore, throughout the world, the Holy Spirit is raising up small Christian communities to strengthen our brotherhood and sisterhood and thereby rebuild the Church. Join a Christian community. Be a brother or a sister in Christ.
Prayer: Father, rebuild the relationships in the Church.
Promise: “The Stone Which the builders rejected has become the Keystone of the structure. It was the Lord Who did this and we find it marvelous to behold.” —Mt 21:42; cf Ps 118:22
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
BOOK II,
CHAPTER IV. CONCERNING THE ASSISTANCE RENDERED BY THE FATHERLY PROVIDENCE OF GOD TO THOSE SOULS WHO HAVE ABANDONED THEMSELVES TO HIM
SECTION 7. Conviction of weakness
The soul in the state of abandonment can abstain from justifying itself by word or deed. The divine action justifies it.
This order of the divine will is the solid and firm rock on which the submissive soul reposes, sheltered from change and tempest. It is continually present under the veil of crosses, and of the most ordinary actions. Behind this veil the hand of God is hidden to sustain and to support those who abandon themselves entirely to Him. From the time that a soul becomes firmly established in abandonment, it will be
protected from the opposition of talkers, for it need not ever say or do anything in self-defence. Since the work is of God, justification must never be sought elsewhere. Its effects and its consequences are justification enough. There is nothing but to let it develop "Dies diei eructat verbum‚"; "Day to day uttereth speech‚" (Ps. xviii, 3). When one is no longer guided by reflexion, words must no longer be used in self-defence. Our words can only express our thoughts; where no ideas are
supposed to exist, words cannot be used. Of what use would they be? To give a satisfactory explanation of our conduct? But we cannot explain that of which we know nothing for it is hidden in the principle of our actions, and we have experienced nothing but an impression, and that in an ineffable manner. We must, therefore, let the results justify their principles.
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