9th Week in Ordinary Time
God’s vineyard
Introduction
Probably written by someone belonging to the group of Peter’s disciples in the 2nd century, the author of 2 Peter warns against false teachers and against fear of the coming of Christ in the Parousia.
Gospel. The parable of the wicked farmers or tenants who rent and cultivate the vineyard describes first of all in moving terms how God loves his chosen people (Israel, but also us) as a winegrower does his vineyard. It is a theme dear to the Scriptures. He plants and tends it with care. God’s love comes first. Then, he leaves his work to be continued and developed by people, entrusts it to them and wants to see it bear fruit. He sends even his beloved Son. Israel did not yield the expected produce. Do we?
Opening Prayer
God, you love us.
You ask of us today: “My people, answer me:
What more could I have done for you?”
Teach and help us to respond with our whole being
to your daily forgiveness and patience,
to the riches of life brought us by Jesus,
to the prompting of the Holy Spirit,
that we may be a people that bears lasting fruits.
May we bring to all a justice animated by love;
may we learn to share as you do with us.
Show us your mercy through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
First Reading: 2 Peter 1:2-7
May grace and peace be yours in abundance
through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
His divine power has bestowed on us
everything that makes for life and devotion,
through the knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and power.
Through these, he has bestowed on us
the precious and very great promises,
so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature,
after escaping from the corruption that is in the world
because of evil desire.
For this very reason,
make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,
virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control,
self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion,
devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.
Responsorial Psalm
You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
Say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
R. In you, my God, I place my trust.
Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;
I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in distress.
R. In you, my God, I place my trust.
I will deliver him and glorify him;
with length of days I will gratify him
and will show him my salvation.
R. In you, my God, I place my trust.
Alleluia
Jesus Christ, you are the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead;
you have loved us and freed us from our sins by your Blood.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
and the elders in parables.
“A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it,
dug a wine press, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey.
At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants
to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard.
But they seized him, beat him,
and sent him away empty-handed.
Again he sent them another servant.
And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully.
He sent yet another whom they killed.
So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed.
He had one other to send, a beloved son.
He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’
But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
So they seized him and killed him,
and threw him out of the vineyard.
What then will the owner of the vineyard do?
He will come, put the tenants to death,
and give the vineyard to others.
Have you not read this Scripture passage:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?”
They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd,
for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them.
So they left him and went away.
Intercessions
– For us the Church, that it may always remain young and faithful and inspire its members and even the world with a sense of hope and deep love, we pray:
– For the whole Christian people, that we may show patience and compassion to people who go astray, to those who disappoint us, and accept them as the Lord accepts us, we pray:
– And for all in our Christian community here, that we may be grateful that the Lord has made us his vineyard and the tenants from whom he expects much, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Faithful God,
we bring these gifts before you
to celebrate how you have made
with us, your chosen people,
a new and everlasting covenant
through the death and rising of your Son.
Do not allow us to become proud
of being the people you love,
but help us to be worthy of your trust
and to give you a response
of deep faith expressed in service.
Grant us this through Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord, mighty God,
in this Eucharist, your Son has been
your encouraging word and your food of strength
for building up your kingdom among your people.
Deepen our trust that Christ will stay with us
and that he is the foundation on which we build.
Make us inventive and creative
in sharing with all who are willing to listen
the Good News we have received
and to respond to your faithful love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.
Blessing
We are God’s vineyard, God’s cherished people. We are answerable to God and sent by him to make his Good News known by our words and deeds, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
3 June 2024
Mark 12: 1-12
The Vineyard of the Lord
The parable of the vineyard finds its origins in Isaiah (5:1-7).
In this parable, the vineyard symbolises the house of Israel, which the Lord (the master of the vineyard) had meticulously prepared for a bountiful harvest of grapes. However, the vineyard only produced wild grapes, disappointing the owner. As a result, the owner stripped down the vineyard and left it desolate, symbolising the suffering of the house of Israel.
In the Gospel parable, the owner of the vineyard entrusts it to tenant farmers. The allegorical elements are clear: God’s son has been rejected by his people and has died at their hands. The final outcome will be the destruction of the temple and the country.
In our times, we view violence as something abhorrent, yet it retains its force in the telling of a story. When one considers Jesus’ message as one of peace and respect, his treatment at the hands of the people whom he desired to save is tragic in every way.
The great tragedy of the vineyard parable is not just the rejection of Christ but the rejection of all that his gift of the Spirit makes possible. Humans are meant to be the glory of God, fully alive, embodying the qualities that the love of God infuses in us. This is the essence of the Easter gift. Turning away from Christ means turning away from the qualities that make life such a precious gift.
As the reading from Peter today states, God has bestowed on us everything necessary for a life of genuine piety. Let us pray that we persevere in faith with courage and love.