Friday in the Third Week of Lent, March 5, 2021

Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “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, and 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.

Terrible actions befall the characters in the Lord’s parables.  They are humiliated, robbed, beaten, imprisoned, financially ruined, serially widowed, and killed.  Seldom do we find unambiguously happy endings to them.  This reflects the seriousness with which the Lord held the matter of sin and its consequences, which so often is found at the heart of the stories he told.  The parable featured in the Gospel for today’s Mass is one of the most violent of these.  After telling of the landowner and how he planted the vineyard and let it out, the Lord speaks of what happened when his servants arrived to collect his share of the produce: “The tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned.”  The Greek word translated here as “they beat” can also mean, “they sodomized”, and all the possible meanings of the word imply murder.  The horror of this parable and the matter-of-fact way in which the Lord tells it cause us to distance ourselves from the situation that is described for us, but we are very much involved in it.  The Lord will make clear to the Pharisees that they are these murdering tenants.  They “murder” the Law and the Prophets by rejecting what they actually say for their own interpretation, which only serves themselves.  Finally, they murder the son of the landowner — a clear reference to their intention to kill him, the Son of God.  By doing so, they absurdly think they will “inherit” the vineyard, which St. Thomas Aquinas interprets as the justice of God.  Now, when we reject the law of God, whether in part or as a whole, we do the same as the tenants in the parable.  On the other hand, when we act on behalf of the Lord and live faithful, virtuous lives, we may be killed or injured by those who do not want their delusion of autonomy or atheism disturbed.  

The Lord compares himself to the stone “that the builders rejected”, which, of all the stones available, became the cornerstone.  That is, in his human form he seemed unremarkable, though his words and deeds pointed him out as one to whom attention should be paid.  The “builders”, that is, those who considered themselves the leaders of the people, rejected this stone as they planned out the places for each of the stones for their building.  It was oddly shaped, unlike any of the other stones.  It would not go where they wanted and, for that reason, they hated it..  But in the end, it was clear that this stone alone could be the cornerstone, and so the incompetence of the so-called builders was revealed.  New builders would then be brought in who would recognize the stone for what it was and then build a magnificent structure around it accordingly.  You and I are called to do this, and to the extent that we appreciate and love this Stone, this Rock, we will build a magnificent structure in terms of the Church and of our lives.  For, “the Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation” (Psalm 18, 46).