20200313 GOD’S PLANS NEVER FAIL
13 March, 2020, Friday, 2nd
Week of Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28 ©
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Let us kill him: then we shall see what becomes of his dreams
Israel loved
Joseph more than all his other sons, for he was the son of his old age, and he
had a coat with long sleeves made for him. But his brothers, seeing how his
father loved him more than all his other sons, came to hate him so much that
they could not say a civil word to him.
His
brothers went to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem. Then Israel said to
Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers with the flock at Shechem? Come, I am going to
send you to them.’ So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
They
saw him in the distance, and before he reached them they made a plot among
themselves to put him to death. ‘Here comes the man of dreams’ they said to one
another. ‘Come on, let us kill him and throw him into some well; we can say
that a wild beast devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams.’
But
Reuben heard, and he saved him from their violence. ‘We must not take his life’
he said. ‘Shed no blood,’ said Reuben to them ‘throw him into this well in the
wilderness, but do not lay violent hands on him’ – intending to save him
from them and to restore him to his father. So, when Joseph reached his
brothers, they pulled off his coat, the coat with long sleeves that he was
wearing, and catching hold of him they threw him into the well, an empty well
with no water in it. They then sat down to eat.
Looking
up they saw a group of Ishmaelites who were coming from Gilead, their camels
laden with gum, tragacanth, balsam and resin, which they were taking down into
Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What do we gain by killing our brother
and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us
not do any harm to him. After all, he is our brother, and our own flesh.’ His
brothers agreed.
Now
some Midianite merchants were passing, and they drew Joseph up out of the well.
They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver pieces, and these men
took Joseph to Egypt.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 104(105):16-21 ©
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Remember
the wonders the Lord has done.
The
Lord called down a famine on the land;
he
broke the staff that supported them.
He
had sent a man before them,
Joseph,
sold as a slave.
Remember
the wonders the Lord has done.
His
feet were put in chains,
his
neck was bound with iron,
until
what he said came to pass
and
the word of the Lord proved him true.
Remember
the wonders the Lord has done.
Then
the king sent and released him
the
ruler of the people set him free,
making
him master of his house
and
ruler of all he possessed.
Remember
the wonders the Lord has done.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn3:16
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Praise
and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
God
loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone
who believes in him has eternal life.
Praise
and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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Matthew 21:33-43,45-46 ©
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This is the landlord's heir: come, let us kill him
Jesus said to the
chief priests and the elders of the people, ‘Listen to another parable. There
was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a
winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went
abroad. When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to
collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed
another and stoned a third. Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger
number, and they dealt with them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to
them. “They will respect my son” he said. But when the tenants saw the son,
they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take
over his inheritance.” So they seized him and 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 answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and
lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when
the season arrives.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the
scriptures:
It
was the stone rejected by the builders
that
became the keystone.
This
was the Lord’s doing
and
it is wonderful to see?
‘I tell you,
then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who
will produce its fruit.’
When
they heard his parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised he was
speaking about them, but though they would have liked to arrest him they were
afraid of the crowds, who looked on him as a prophet.
GOD’S PLANS NEVER
FAIL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GEN 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28; PS 105:16-21; MT 21:33-43, 45-46]
Life is so
unpredictable. In fact, it is truly a mystery. Man proposes, God
disposes. Even the best plans of man can be derailed. A young man, bright, handsome,
intelligent, and well-educated, thought the whole world was awaiting him until
he met with an accident and was crippled for life. A loving couple with a
happy family was doing well in life until one of the spouses was struck by
cancer. A charismatic leader in an organization, the hope of everyone to
lead them forward, suddenly died of a heart attack. When that happens, we
feel discouraged and fall into despair. Why is God so unfair and
merciless? Where is the love of God? Why does He allow us to suffer
unjustly?
Joseph must have felt
this way when he was betrayed by his brothers. He had a great future ahead of him.
He was bright and resourceful. He had great dreams about himself, that
one day he would lord over his brothers. He was the father’s favorite as
well. But his brothers were jealous of him. They wanted to kill him
but Reuben saved Joseph and they threw him into an empty well instead.
Later on, they sold him off as a slave to the Ishmaelites. As if
that was not the end of his woes, he was soon accused of having an affair with
his master’s wife. Because of his fidelity to the master, he refused to
give in to his wife’s advances and she framed him. He was thrown into
prison. (Gen 39) We can
imagine how disappointed and disillusioned Joseph must have been. He must
have wondered why God allowed all these unjust events in his life. How
could his dreams be fulfilled?
This was also true in
the case of Jesus. Jesus did lots of good works. He healed the sick, gave sight to
the blind, helped the crippled and paralyzed walk again, exorcised evil spirits
from those possessed and taught them the Good News of compassion and
justice. He thought He was quite successful as He drew large
crowds. But for all that He did and taught, He was rejected
by the religious leaders who also influenced the people to rise up against
Him. Just as Joseph’s loved ones rejected him, so, too, Jesus was
rejected by the people He had made His own. He had to go through
rejection again and again, first from the people in His hometown, and then by
those He had helped. All the Lord knew was that His Father wanted it that
way. He had to go through the passion. At the Garden of Gethsemane,
He implored the Father to take away the cup if it was possible, but His Father
did not. And so He accepted God’s will and commended everything into His
hands.
The truth is that, as
human beings, we do not always have the foresight to understand fully the plan
of God. At times, we might
even be convinced that this is the plan of God for us even though we do not
understand the reasons. This is true with regard to our leaders.
Although we might be convinced of our leader’s plans and vision, many of us
cannot fully grasp his or her decisions. Yet, because we trust in him or
her, we follow, albeit not with full clarity. This is the kind of faith
that we are called to have in God. We must walk by faith, not by
sight. We are called to be like our Lord and commend ourselves and everything
we do to God. We are limited by our understanding and vision. That
is why we must trust in God, that He will do what is ultimately good for us
all. His plan is His wisdom.
We might not see the
connections now, but later on we will be able to connect the dots of the events
in our lives. This
was what happened in the life of Joseph. All the trials that he went
through were to prepare him for greater things and responsibilities to come.
It was in prison that he was able to prove himself to be truly a man of
wisdom. He interpreted the dreams of two of his fellow prisoners
correctly. Later on, when the cup-bearer was released and returned to the
service of the king, he introduced Joseph to interpret the dream of Pharaoh
when all his advisers could not do so. (Gen 40, 41)
As a consequence, Joseph
came into the good books of Pharaoh and he was promoted to be the second-in-command
in the country. He
became very powerful. But God had greater plans for Joseph. God
wanted to make Joseph not just the savior of the people of Egypt but to save
his family and grow the People of God. When Joseph’s family, who was
facing famine, came to hear of Egypt selling grains, they went there to buy
grains for the family. There they were reconciled with Joseph.
Eventually, the father was reunited with his beloved son in Egypt too and the
family began to grow in numbers. God was realizing the promise He made to
Abraham that he would be the father of nations.
Likewise in the case of
Jesus, He was rejected by the
chief priests and the religious leaders. God sent them prophet after
prophet but they did not listen to them. Finally, He sent His only Son
whom they killed. “When the tenants saw the son, they said to each other,
‘This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his
inheritance.'” Jesus was not just rejected by His people but also
abandoned by His apostles at the loneliest period of His life. The
three apostles, His closest friends, could not keep awake with Him when He was
in agony. Eventually, He was put to death. For the apostles it was
scandalous. As the disciples of Emmaus lamented, “The things about Jesus
of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all
the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to
be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he
was the one to redeem Israel.” (Lk 24:19-21)
The truth is that we
never fully understand God’s plan for us in our lives. The Lord said to Peter, “Get behind me,
Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
(Mk 8:33)
Isaiah also said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your
ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts.” (Isa
55:8f) Truly, God’s plans are not ours. Jesus remarked, “Have
you never read in the scriptures: It was the stone rejected by the
builders that became the keystone. This was the Lord’s doing.” It would
be through the death of our Lord that new life was made possible. Only by
His death, many were converted because they saw the love of God on the cross.
Most of all, the resurrection of Christ showed that death and hatred are not
the last words. In Christ, they saw how God transformed hatred to love,
death to life, despair to hope.
Truly, God never
fails. His plans are perfect. We might not understand how His plan
is being unfolded in our lives.
But if we cooperate with Him, we will see the wisdom and mercy of God. We
must take one step at a time, responding to His will. By aligning
ourselves with His will, one day when we reach the end, we will be able to
connect the dots in our lives. Then we cannot but marvel at the Lord’s
plans. This was how Joseph felt when he arrived. The psalmist urges us,
“Remember the wonders the Lord has done.” In the case of Joseph, “The
Lord called down a famine on the land; he broke the staff that supported
them. He had sent a man before them, Joseph, sold as a slave. His
feet were put in chains, his neck was bound with iron, until what he said came
to pass and the word of the Lord proved him true. Then the king sent and released
him the ruler of the people set him free, making him master of his house and
ruler of all he possessed.”
However, there is a
veiled warning to those who reject the Lord’s invitation. It is true that
He is merciful and kind. He
keeps appealing to us by sending us, prophet after prophet, and even His only
Son. However, a time will come when judgement will take
place. “‘Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to
those tenants?’ They answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end
and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him
when the season arrives.'” Let us therefore not miss out on the
opportunities the Lord provides us during the season of Lent to repent and work
for the kingdom. If we reject Him, the Lord will offer the Good News to
those who would accept Him. “I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be
taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
Best Practices for Using the Daily
Scripture Reflections
- Encounter
God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and
praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and
to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily
reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections
of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to
enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for
knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of
developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is
more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of
the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply
and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with
someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will
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