DAILY- HOMILY

March 6, 2015 FRIDAY, 2nd Week of Lent

Violet

Gn 37:3-4. 12-13a, 17b- 28a / Mt 21: 33-43. 45-46

Reading: Gn 37:3-4. 12-13a, 17b- 28a

     Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other children, for he was the son of his old age and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him. His brothers who saw that their father loved him more than he loved them, hated him and could no longer speak to him in a friendly way.

     His brothers had gone to pasture their father's flock at Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers are pasturing the flock at Shechem; come along, I'll send you to them." 

     So Joseph went off after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

     They saw him in the distance and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another, "Here comes the specialist in dreams! Now's the time! Let's kill him and throw him into a well. We'll say a wild animal devoured him. Then we'll see what his dreams were all about!" But Reuben heard this and tried to save him from their hands saying, "Let us not kill him; shed no blood! Throw him in this well in the wilderness, but do him no violence." This he said to save him from them and take him back to his father.

     So as soon as Joseph arrived, they stripped him of his long-sleeved coat that he wore and then took him and threw him in the well. Now the well was empty, without water.

     They were sitting for a meal when they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with spices, balm and myrrh, which they were taking down to Egypt. Judah then said to his brothers, "What do we gain by killing our brother and hiding his blood? Come! We'll sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother and our own flesh!" His brothers agreed to this.

So when the Midianite merchants came along they pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the well. 

Gospel: Mt 21:33-43, 45-46

     Jesus said, "Listen to another example: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the winepress, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants and then went to a distant country. When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another and stoned another.

     "Again the owner sent more servants, but they were treated in the same way. Finally, he sent his son, thinking: 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they thought: 'This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him and his inheritance will be ours.' So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

     "Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes? They said to him, 'He will bring those evil to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others who will pay him in due time.' "

     And Jesus replied, "Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing; and we marvel at it. Therefore I say to you: the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to a people who will yield a harvest."

     When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these parables, they realized that Jesus was referring to them. They would have arrested him, but they were afraid of the crowd who regarded him as a prophet.

Reflection:

     Jesus Christ is the cornerstone that the builders rejected. And even today, the world still rejects him. We may say that this is not true, but when we think about what society is saying and preaching, we realize that, indeed, it is teaching the opposite of Christian values.

     The world says that the more earthly success we achieve, the more we gain in value as individuals. We don't need God to reach the pinnacle of power, it is just through our own hard work and luck and stepping on others' toes. As humans we have the freedom of choice to decide what is right and what is wrong, but if we value God we will look to Him for what is right and wrong, and to rely on Him to take care of our needs. To be a Christian is to put God first in our lives. This means continuously seeking His righteousness and totally relying on Him. We value God when we acknowledge that He knows better than we do on what we need in our lives.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     CHARLETON ROYCE G. YU

     FELIX S. SAW

     IVAN TSOI MICHAEL P. ROBLES 

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

     BUTCH & ARMI JIMENEZ

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most. 

Have a good day!

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