20240301 AN UNWELCOME VOICE OF GOD
01 March 2024, Friday, 2nd Week of Lent
First reading |
Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28 © |
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.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 104(105):16-21 © |
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.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn3:16 |
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!
Gospel |
Matthew 21:33-43,45-46 © |
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.
AN UNWELCOME VOICE OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GEN 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28; PS 104:16-21; MT 21:33-43, 45-46]
In today’s first reading, we can feel with the brothers of Joseph in their resentment against him, which almost led them to killing him if not for the moral position of Reuben and Judah. Indeed, there was an apparent injustice felt by the brothers because Israel favoured Joseph over them as “he was the son of his old age”. This was symbolically seen when Israel made a coat with long sleeves for him. And Joseph, being young, did not consider the feelings of his other brothers.
Adding oil to the fire, Joseph even boasted of his bright future over his brothers. He told them about his dream where they were like sheaves in the field, bowing down to His sheaf, signifying that he would reign over them. He also told them of another dream, where the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to him, signifying that his parents and brothers would come to pay homage to him. (cf Gn 37:5-11) Although his father rebuked him for making that suggestion, and “his brothers were jealous of him, his father kept the matter in mind.” (Gn 37:11)
Regardless of whether they acknowledged the dreams of Joseph, these were part of God’s plan for the establishment of the nation of Israel. Indeed, such truths were hard for them to accept because of human insecurity leading to pride and resentment.
This, too, was the case of the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Jesus was addressing the chief priests and the elders of the people. He told them a parable of the vineyard. He alluded to the Song of the Vineyard told by Isaiah, although in the prophet’s case, it was addressed to Israel the chosen people of God. (Isa 5:1-7) The people of Israel, the vineyard of the Lord, were not producing the fruits that they should. The Lord lamented, “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?” (Isa 5:4) In the case of Jesus’ parable, it was the religious leaders who, as the “tenants” of the Temple of God, were not looking after the People of God responsibly.
Like the brothers of Joseph, the priests and the elders could not accept the teaching of our Lord. They were the official established religious leaders of Israel. Why would they want to take direction from an itinerant preacher, a miracle worker with no credentials, nor even a trained rabbi? Furthermore, He came from an unknown and insignificant village, Nazareth. But the truth was not that they were not receptive of our Lord, but that they had always rejected the prophets of God. The parable hinted at how the religious leaders kept persecuting the servants that God sent to them, killing them one after another. Most of all, they would eventually kill the Son of God because they thought that by eliminating Jesus, they were saving the Temple and the nation.
Ironically, it was their chief priest who made the prophecy about the Lord. “Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.’ He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God.” (Jn 11:49-52) As the Lord also warned them, “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.”
Indeed, the Temple was eventually destroyed and the people were killed during the time of the persecution under the Romans. With the destruction of the Temple, the people were scattered further. But it also helped Christianity to rise to a religion, since the Jewish Christians no longer worshipped in the temple but in their houses. There was a gradual exit of Christianity from Judaism. From then on, Christianity, which was then seen as a sect within Judaism, became autonomous, and grew from strength to strength as a religion. Hence, the prophecy of our Lord was fulfilled: “I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
Of course, not all messengers of God are perfect. Many are far from what they are called to be. When we look at Joseph, he was surely no saintly person. He was scheming. So, too, was his father, Jacob, who we read schemed to steal the birthright from his brother Esau. He also was not impartial towards the rest of his children. Joseph was proud, arrogant and vindictive. He played a trick on his brothers to punish them when they sought help from him in Egypt during the time of famine. Some of our priests, religious and lay leaders too are far from perfect in their conduct and way of life. Some are proud and arrogant. Some are worldly and care more about their interests than the people they serve. Some are lacking in integrity and generosity. Some are hot-tempered and vicious. But they all seek to serve God in their limited capacity. Holiness is something we should strive for, but it is also the work of God in them.
And the Lord made it clear that this is the work of God, not the work of man. 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?” It is God who will built His Temple. God will choose His cornerstone. Jesus is that keystone in rebuilding the Temple of God. We are invited to welcome the Lord into our lives. He is the wisdom of God’s plan. Jesus is that cornerstone rejected by men, but which has become the source of our salvation. God writes straight in crooked lines. Just when they thought they had eliminated our Lord for good, God raised Him up from the dead.
Indeed, in our responsorial psalm we say, “remember the wonders the Lord has done.” We must cling to His wonders in our lives. Truly, we must remember what God has done for us in the past, especially in Jesus. We must not lose hope when we face setbacks in life. We must not lose hope when religious leaders fail in their duties and cause scandals to the community. We must not give up even when we think the world, and sometimes church leaders, is going the wrong way, seeking to embrace the values of the world instead of standing firm on the Word of God. God will not abandon the Church just as He would not abandon His chosen servants.
God is faithful to His servants. As we read in today’s responsorial psalm, “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.” Who would ever have thought that God’s plan overruled even the sins of men that sought to jeopardize the salvation of humanity? No one can destroy God’s plan for humanity. Indeed, we cannot go against the wisdom of God’s plan.
Today the scripture readings invite us to welcome the divine plan of God in our lives. Let us welcome His messengers, even if they do not live according to what they preach, for the Lord said, “therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.” (Mt 23:3) Even if they speak the Word of God in a way that is not to our liking, perhaps not in a gentle way, let us seek the truth of what is spoken not how it is spoken. At the end of the day, to reject the message is our loss, not that of the messenger. So let us go beyond what is external, even beyond the person of the preacher and seek the truth of the message that is spoken to us.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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