March 12, 2004 - Friday, 2nd Week of Lent

Suffering Saves

Readings:
Gen 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28; Ps 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21; Mt 21:33-43, 45-46

Introduction

Joseph suffered because his brothers were jealous. Yet later he would save them from famine. Jesus was rejected and died for our sins. He became the keystone for a new kingdom, for the life of all. And we? We want happiness without pain, without paying the price for it, though sacrifice and happiness are close relatives. If the grain of wheat does not die… We know this, but it’s too uncomfortable to put into practice if we are not forced by circumstances . . .

Opening Prayer

God, we do not want to die;
we want to live.
We want to be happy
but without paying the price.
We belong to our times,
when sacrifice and suffering are out of fashion.
God, make life worth the pain to be lived,
Give us back the age-old realization
that life means to be born
again and again in pain,
that it may become again
a journey of hope to you,
together with Christ Jesus our Lord.

Scripture Readings

First Reading: Gen 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a

Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons,
for he was the child of his old age;
and he had made him a long tunic.
When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons,
they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.

One day, when his brothers had gone
to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem,
Israel said to Joseph,
"Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem.
Get ready; I will send you to them."

So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan.
They noticed him from a distance,
and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him.
They said to one another: "Here comes that master dreamer!
Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here;
we could say that a wild beast devoured him.
We shall then see what comes of his dreams."

When Reuben heard this,
he tried to save him from their hands, saying,
"We must not take his life.
Instead of shedding blood," he continued,
"just throw him into that cistern there in the desert;
but do not kill him outright."
His purpose was to rescue him from their hands
and return him to his father.
So when Joseph came up to them,
they stripped him of the long tunic he had on;
then they took him and threw him into the cistern,
which was empty and dry.

They then sat down to their meal.
Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,
their camels laden with gum, balm and resin
to be taken down to Egypt.
Judah said to his brothers:
"What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?
Rather, 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.
They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21

R (5a) Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

When the LORD called down a famine on the land
and ruined the crop that sustained them,
He sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
R Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

They had weighed him down with fetters,
and he was bound with chains,
Till his prediction came to pass
and the word of the LORD proved him true.
R Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

The king sent and released him,
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions.
R Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

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

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders, "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 keystone. 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.

Commentary

THE vine was a symbol of Israel.
"You brought a vine out of Egypt;
To plant it you drove out the nations.
Before it you cleared the ground;
It took root and spread through the land." (Ps 79)
So when Jesus tells this story about the vineyard he is really talking about his country and the people who ran it. They were quite aware of this, "The chief priests and the Pharisees realized that Jesus was referring to them." It wasn't a story to flatter them; it enraged them. That means that it frightened them-lying just behind anger there is always fear. (This is a useful awareness: when you see an angry person you are looking at a fearful person.) They were frightened because he said they were going to lose power. They were religious leaders and he told them, "The kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to people who will yield a harvest." This is not just a story about a comfortable "long ago"; it is for the Church of today. If we are not "producing the goods," others will. Many people, experiencing lack of community and spiritual support in their parishes, are looking to new religions and cults for support. But if we are sorry only because we are losing in a "numbers game", then we have to think more deeply.

General Intercession

–   For those who are betrayed in their friendship and trust, we pray:

–   For street children and young people abandoned and neglected by their families, we pray:

–   For all those who suffer in their bodies and for those seriously ill, that they may find strength and consolation in the cross of our Lord, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
we celebrate your Son’s victory over death.
Through him you give us life
and teach us to accept death.
Lord, help us to love life
without refusing to suffer when necessary
for the sake of love and renewal.
May we see the fear of death
and the urge for life
in the light of the life and death
of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord God, make us fully accept
the realities of life:
that there is no birth without pain,
no growth without effort,
no adulthood without struggle,
no wisdom without experience and practice.
God, raise us above ourselves,
that we may understand and accept
the wisdom of the cross
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Blessing

Joseph forgave his brothers and became a blessing to them. On the cross Jesus brought us forgiveness and life and a beautiful sign of this was how he forgave those who had led him to the cross. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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