Reflection for MONDAY 9th Week in Ordinary Time

By

Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Assistant Parish Priest,Manjeshwar,Kasargod

Reflection after Meditative Reading of Today's WORD of GOD 


 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.

Reflection on the Readings 

Surviving in a New Environment

A Slender Thread Links Tobit with the Gospel Parable for Today: *How to Survive in a Changed Situation, when the Cultural & Moral Markers One has Relied upon Seem to have Diluted or Disappeared.

In Today's Gospel, Brutish People Grow Recklessly Selfish Way because of GOD'S Apparent Absence. 

In an Age of Shifting Cultural Values We Need the Common Sense Message of the Book of Tobit, which Integrates Religion with Everyday Life, & Deeply-Held Family Values are Revived to Provide a Foothold of Meaning. In the Story, GOD Responds to Tobit’s Sense of Fidelity. 

Today’s Gospel also Wrestles with the Problem of Failure & the Sense of Loss. The Vineyard Owner Seems to have Vanished, so the Tenant Farmers Behave Recklessly, even Killing the Owner’s Son to Seize Control of the Property. 

This Principle of Reversal Holds that GOD is Always Faithful to Those who Trust HIM, & can Draw New Life from the Worst of Situations.

The Story of Tobit, as Intriguing as a Short Novel, Invites Us to Admire the Person who Risks His Own Security & Peace in order to Give a Decent Burial to His Murdered Fellow-Exile.

The Gospel’s Message too is Fundamentally Optimistic: Out of Disaster Good can Come.

Rejection & Acceptance

The Parable in Today's Gospel is about Rejection. At the End of the Story Comes a Complete Reversal. JESUS Promises that the Stone Rejected by the Builders will become the Keystone, the Most Important Stone in a Building. 

There is a Veiled Reference to what had been Done to the Prophets in Former Times & what would soon happen to JESUS HIMSELF. He would be Rejected & Put to Death, but GOD would Raise HIM Up & Make HIM the Keystone of a New Spiritual Building, the CHURCH.

To Suffer Rejection is a Common Enough Human Experience. People can Feel Themselves Rejected by Others, often by Significant Others, at Various Stages of Their Lives. 

JESUS who Knew the Pain of Rejection Identifies with Us in Our Own Moments of Rejection. 

HE also Assures Us that there can be Life & Love Beyond Rejection; the Rejected Stone can Become the Keystone. 

The LORD'S Power Often Manifests Itself in Surprising Ways in Our Moments of Greatest Weakness.


                   Good Morning

Have a lovely day and a great week ahead

Happie International Environment Day