October 2nd - Reflection

16th Sunday After Pentecost
Matthew 21:33-46 (NRSV)
The parable of the vineyard owner's son

"Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.' So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time."

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures:
'The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord's doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes'?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls."

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Reflection
The kingdom of God will be given to a people that God makes up brought together on a spiritual basis. People that produce the fruits of the kingdom.

I am reminded of the spiritual fruits and how they will be developed in the children of God through the Holy Spirit. Spiritual fruits given and cultivated by God and put to use in the Church of Christ for the love of God and all people.

Fruits by which we will be joyful at the harvest to share in full with all people. Fruit not to be hoarded and kept aside but to be shared one with another. Fruit of the vine of Christ our Lord and Savior.

Prayer
Lord, help us to share the harvest of love you have cultivated with all the children. --- Amen