Being in this strict quarantine for 28 days does not make this Sunday seem to be in ordinary time!
As usual, I will begin with the Collect as we so often miss this prayer at the beginning of Mass:
"Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not ask."
That seems a bit complicated, but we are praying for God to pour out His mercy on us and we know that He does!
The first reading is from Isaiah and is the story of the vineyard that had such great care yet it only yielded wild grapes. The Lord is not pleased and that vineyard is the house of Israel
The second reading is from Paul's Letter to the Philippians 4:6-9 and is consoling. Paul tells us:
"Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you."
Let us really try to keep on doing what we have learned and received from Jesus.
The Gospel is Matthew: 21:33-43 and is on the parable of the vineyard. This time it is the tenants who are really evil and Jesus ends by quoting the Hebrew Scriptures: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone..."
If the Religious who read this blog have not yet discovered Maria Cimperman, RSCJ's newly published book Religious Life For Our World: Creating Communities of Hope, I hope you will buy it and read it as it is excellent for us today!
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