Breathe

Greetings on this the Friday of the Second Week of Lent
Readings: Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a; Ps 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21; Mt 21:33-43, 45-46

Notes

In today’s first reading we get the beginning of the story of Joseph. An epic tale of the intrigue of man and the divine will working through and despite these things for a wonderful outcome. Our psalmist today (PS 105) is considered as an “historical” Psalm. Meaning if you read the psalm in its strophes below as our responsorial, you get the headline version of his story.

In our gospel portion today, Jesus makes note of the divine will as it pertains to himself: The Parable of the Tenants. In this parable the Son is killed by the tenants to gain advantage but it will recoil on them because the divine will is not to be thwarted.

The movie Breathe is a modern version of the same type of divine will working through our problems. Robin is struck with polio and paralyzed from the neck down. He wishes for death. The priest reassures him the Lord has other plans. Robin spits in his face. Understandable in the moment. Such is the crisis of faith and situation. Due to ingenuity and an unconquered spirit the Teddy chair is invented. The chair of freedom for so many paralysed from the polio.

Make this movie a part of your Lenten experience. Ask yourself how hard is it to see the divine will in the moment? When you look back, as the Hebrews did regarding Joseph, we see something new. When you look back at Jesus, we see something new.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathe_(2017_film)

Summary

The The Parable of the Tenants and the story of the life of Joseph are wonderful examples of the divine will pushing through the intrigue of man. Further, the gospel portion shows the divine will also pushing through the assault on the divine son. That is to say the divine does not exempt himself from the same crisis between the moment of difficulty and the divine plan from the beginning of time.

Reflection

So many mock good will and good deeds. ‘No good deed goes unpunished’ the old saw says. But those with faith know otherwise.

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?

Personal Reflection

I have to remind myself time and again every intentional act of good is the divine at work. So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it (ISA 55:11).

First Reading

They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

Responsorial

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.

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.

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.

Gospel Acclamation

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son; so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.

Gospel

The Parable of the Tenants.

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. 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?

(see Ps 118:22–23; Is 28:16)

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry