09/03/2023
TENANCY AND PRODUCE
– Daily
March 10, 2023
Friday, 2nd Week of Lent
Gospel: Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46 (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031023.cfm)
Sharer: Sis. Adela A. Obja-an
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Reflection:
TENANCY AND PRODUCE
“When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. … Lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper time…. The Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and be given to a people that will produce its fruits” (Mt. 21:34, 43)
My late husband and his brothers and sisters inherited a farmland from their parents. Two years after their parents’ passed away, they decided to divide the inheritance among themselves. Because Roger and I had no intention of residing in San Jose, Antique, we leased our share to some tenants. Roger requested one of his brothers to get our share of the produce during harvest season and send it to us. Unfortunately, thirty years have passed and Roger already passed on to the next life, still we have not received any single grain or centavo from the produce.
In today’s Gospel episode, we ponder on the parable of the tenants. Jesus addressed the parable “to the chief priests and elders of the people.” Jesus said that there was a man who prepared his vineyard, leased it, and later sent messengers to collect the produce. Rather than welcoming the messengers, the tenants mistreated them and finally killing the master’s son. After telling the parable, Jesus engaged the Jewish leaders into a challenging discussion to elicit from them what the story means. When the Jewish leaders answered that the vineyard should be taken away from the wicked tenants and should be given to people who will yield the produce, Jesus turned their own verdict against them, telling them frankly, “the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and it shall be given to a people that will produce fruit.”
“When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard this parable, they knew Jesus was talking about them.” They were not used to being criticized, and they did not like it. They would have had him seized if they could have gotten away with it. Indeed, like the wicked tenants, the Pharisees were more interested in preserving gains for themselves than providing a harvest for the Lord.
The Lord is addressing his words to us today. He sees in us the same tendency to fall into pride, self-righteousness, and defensive overconfidence. We like to be masterful “observers of the Law,” while forgetting we are tenants in the Lord’s vineyard. All that we have actually belongs to the Master, and all people are our fellow servants. The Master sends us a variety of messengers – a brother or sister, a verse from the Bible, a spouse, a priest – to direct our attention to fruitful service in the Kingdom. Sometimes the Lord tells us what to do, what to do better, what not to do or how our service is still lacking. When we are wrong, and are corrected, we might get angry at the messenger, we might grow defensive and try to refute him, or even hurt him. Or we can accept the message as a gift of truth told in love, and admit our error. Usually, we find it harder to say “I am wrong.” We are always tempted, even in our admission, “to save face,” to excuse ourselves, to dilute our wrongdoing somehow. “I was tired… I didn’t realize the whole situation… It’s not as bad as you’re making it sound… The Pharisees within us will always resist looking bad.
Admitting that we are wrong, even though we have been following all the “rules,” is humbling. It is particularly embarrassing to be shown up in public. When the Lord humbles us, however, it is always out of love. He knows something that we often misunderstand, that our pride sometimes gets in the way of his plan for our true glory. That is why he humbles us.
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Questions for Reflection
How do I respond to correction? How can I develop true humility? How can I produce fruits for the Lord?
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Let us pray:
Loving Father, thank you for allowing us to work in your vineyard. Thank you for your steadfast love. Thank you for sending us Jesus, Your only Son to teach us how to become your good tenants. In your mercy, give us the grace to bear the fruits of love, forgiveness, justice and peace in our lives. Help us to serve you generously and to live lives worthy of our calling. This we ask through Christ our Lord.
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