Reading 1 Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a
for he was the child of his old age;
and he had made him a long tunic.
When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons,
they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.
One day, when his brothers had gone
to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem,
Israel said to Joseph,
“Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem.
Get ready; I will send you to them.”
So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan.
They noticed him from a distance,
and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him.
They said to one another: “Here comes that master dreamer!
Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here;
we could say that a wild beast devoured him.
We shall then see what comes of his dreams.”
When Reuben heard this,
he tried to save him from their hands, saying,
“We must not take his life.
Instead of shedding blood,” he continued,
“just throw him into that cistern there in the desert;
but do not kill him outright.”
His purpose was to rescue him from their hands
and return him to his father.
So when Joseph came up to them,
they stripped him of the long tunic he had on;
then they took him and threw him into the cistern,
which was empty and dry.
They then sat down to their meal.
Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,
their camels laden with gum, balm and resin
to be taken down to Egypt.
Judah said to his brothers:
“What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?
Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites,
instead of doing away with him ourselves.
After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.”
His brothers agreed.
They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.
Responsorial Psalm PS 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21
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.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
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.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
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.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
Verse Before the Gospel Jn 3:16
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son;so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
Gospel Mt 21:33-43, 45-46
“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.
ADVANCED STAGES OF EVIL
"They seized him, dragged him outside the vineyard, and killed him."–Matthew 21:39
In both Scripture readings today, we see advanced stages of evil. Jacob's years of deception came back to haunt him when he was deceived by his sons, who almost murdered their brother Joseph and eventually sold him into slavery (Gn 37:28). In today's Gospel reading, Jesus describes centuries of rebellion against God's will. This rebellion culminated in murdering Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God.
We see many strongholds of the evil one in our midst (see 2 Cor 10:4). We see advanced stages of evil which have grown worse over the centuries. Many Christians doubt if these strongholds can be toppled, but the Lord promises us that His grace far surpasses even the most advanced stages of evil (Rm 5:20). There is One greater in us "than there is in the world" (1 Jn 4:4). Although we acknowledge the formidable power of the evil one in perverting society, God's power of converting the world is much greater. For example, over the last few decades, we have caught a glimpse of God's power over evil in the fall of Communism.
To overcome generational, diabolical strongholds of evil in their advanced stages, we need only obey God (see 2 Cor 10:6; Rm 16:19-20). If we go when the Lord says "Go," pray when He commands to pray, speak when He calls us to be His witnesses, fast when He says "Fast," stop when He says "Stop," we will see freed and converted families, renewed churches, obedient and Christ_centered nations, and repentant institutions and businesses. Believe and obey.
| PRAYER: | Father, do through me more than I could ever ask for or imagine (Eph 3:20). |
| PROMISE: | "The Stone which the builders rejected has become the Keystone of the structure." –Mt 21:42 |
| PRAISE: | Barbara prays daily for the conversion of China. |
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