Jesus said to
the chief priests and the elders of the people: “Hear another parable. There
was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press
in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his
produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they
killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous
than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent
his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw
the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and
acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and
killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he
comes?” They answered him, “He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the
proper times.” Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures: The
stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has
this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore, I
say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a
people that will produce its fruit.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees
heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. And although
they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded
him as a prophet.
+ + + + + +
Reflection:
Do you see
greed in the gospel? Yes there is greed, the greed of the tenants. They
did not give the rightful share of the landowner they instead kept to themselves
what was supposed to be the landowner’s share. Was Jesus happy with the greed
of the tenants? Of course not! Did the tenants’ greed cause their
self-destruction? Yes absolutely!
Our greed
will not bring us any good, it will only destroy us; the more that we are
greedy the more that we hasten our self-destruction. The more that we are
greedy the more that we alienate ourselves not only from the love of God but from
the love and respect of our fellowmen as well.
So, what is
the cure for our greed? The cure is generosity! If we are always generous we
will not run out of things to give. We also free ourselves from the curse of
greed which had destroyed so many already. What is with material things
that we are so greedy of it? Can it bring us closer to Jesus? Can we bring it
to our graves when we die?
If the
tenants in our gospel generously gave what was for the landowner. They could
have continued their tenants and landowner relationship. They could have
experienced prosperity, peace and they could have avoided destruction. – Marino
J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment