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Today's Reflections

 

The Parable of the Tenants

 

Mt 21:33-43, 45-46

[Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people,] ³³“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. ³⁴When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. ³⁵But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. ³⁶Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. ³⁷Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ ³⁹They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?” ⁴¹They 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.” ⁴²Jesus 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’?/ ⁴³Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” ⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.

Reflection:
 

HE LEASED IT TO TENANTS. The tenants in the parable are privileged workers. They are given great responsibility by the landowner who trusts them and leaves the vineyard to their care and creativity. They are also provided with everything they need: a vineyard with hedge, wine press, and tower. But there will be a day of reckoning: at vintage time, the landowner will ask for the produce.

We are the tenants in the parable. God is the landowner who gives us a mission to accomplish. God believes in our potentials. At the same time, God also gives us the means necessary to carry out our mission. On the day of reckoning, we will have to answer to God, delivering the produce expected of us. Let us return everything to God, the fruits of God’s vineyard—our life and our love.

What have I produced for God?
What are the fruits I can give back to the Lord?