Readings
I - Tobit 1: 3, 2: 1-8
II - Mk. 12: 1-12
STAND WITH AND FOR THE MASTER
Today’s Gospel passage is about the parable of the wicked tenants who refused to give the fruits to the master. They beat the servants who were sent to collect the fruits and finally beat and killed the son of the owner of the vineyard. An unfair, unjust and wicked act indeed! By doing this they inherited not the vineyard but the wrath of the Master who destroyed them and gave the vineyard to others. The same thing happened to Jesus too. The Scribes and the Pharisees were not ready to listen to Jesus, the Messiah for whom they awaited so long years because they rejected him when he came to redeem them. Instead, the sinners, the tax collectors and the prostitutes accepted Jesus and his teaching making the concept of People of God, a universal one.
Today the Church remembers St. Boniface, a Benedictine monk and martyr who was martyred because he was turning the hearts of people towards God. He is known for Christian orthodoxy and fidelity to the Pope. He tried to reform the German Church as instructed by the Holy Father. In the Frankish kingdom, he had to meet the problem of lay interference in the election of bishops, the worldly attitude of the clergy and lack of papal control. During his final mission to the Frisians, Boniface, along with his 53 companions were massacred while he was preparing the converts for their confirmation. St. Boniface used to say, “Let us continue the fight on the day of the Lord. If God so wills, let us die for the holy laws of our fathers, so that we may deserve to obtain an eternal inheritance with them.” In the light of the parable and the life of the saint let us resolve to be like the servants of the Master who has commissioned to turn all hearts towards God. Resolve to live for the Lord.
