Householder

Today’s Gospel Text: "Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; 35 and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. 37 Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.' 39 And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" 41 They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons." 42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it."

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 But when they tried to arrest him, they feared the multitudes, because they held him to be a prophet. Matt 21:33-43, 45-46

Reflection: How do we want to treat God? Do we want to treat him like a master or do we treat him like an outcast or a criminal or a villain or a landlord or a taskmaster, etc. etc?

We who are capable of double speak and double standards treat God in every way negative than how in reality we are supposed to treat him.

We may say we love him and our actions can prove us wrong, we may claim to serve him and yet in all probability may be serving our own interests, if anyone insults God we will even defend him, but as per the Christian doctrine it may be no defense of God, of whom we believe can defend himself and yet chooses not to, many a time.

We may be even spiritual and deep within, many a time, hypocritical, but the worse is when people want to remain where they are, in their hypocrisy.

Out of the many attributes of God taught by Jesus, who came to reveal to us the reality about ourselves and God is this attribute of God as a householder and we as mere stewards or tenants.

This means even though he is a Father to us or a Shepherd to us, the primary attribute always remains and in the light of the primary attribute we see the great love of God, viz. that he still comes to us in order to reach us at our level, in our particular situation as Father, Shepherd or Savior.

This means that if we don’t accept this relationship which God wants to establish, by introducing himself as Father, good Shepherd, Savior then we need to at least accept his reign, as the master and householder who will ultimately call everyone to render an account.

The parable makes this truth absolutely clear and what is more the parable also brings to light the hostility with which we relate to God and his servants.

Even among the spiritual category of men, if anyone thinks that they have never rejected God or hurt his anointed ones or done harm to them, then they need to ask God’s Holy Spirit to convict them of their blindness.

Prayer:  Jesus Lord and Master of the universe, you deserve all praise and glory, more so for revealing to us the Father's glory. 

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In God’s Ways

Today’s Gospel Text: And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; 18 and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Luke 2:16-21

Reflection: There are some things in life which cannot be told to others nor will it be easily understood by others.  

Can you tell any adult about engineering or science or politics?  One has to be technically proficient in that particular subject in order to understand the depth of the matter.

But there are something’s in life which are understood easily and yet not completely understood as it is supposed to be understood. 

When it comes to the word of God we face a similar predicament; there are some who never understand it and there are some who understand it and yet never understand it as it is supposed to be understood and the worse is when they understand it superficially and yet think that they have understood it all.

It also depends on who communicates to whom and how it is communicated; a good teacher will normally make their student thorough in what they teach.

In this gospel passage we have the angels who have communicated to the shepherds about the Child Jesus: I am sure when God or his agents communicate they communicate much more perfectly then any human being.

Because when humans communicate, they need to take into consideration the categories in the mind of the other, which is not done most of the time or is done imperfectly.

But when God or his agents communicate they know the categories in the human mind, its many objections and then it is, above all, communicated in grace to the spirit, which perfectly understands.

Hence what was understood by the Shepherds through the message of the angels was well listened to by the people who heard these shepherds share and yet did not understand it and “wondered at what the shepherds told them.” (vs.18)

Prayer:  Lord, put your Spirit within me so that like Mary I too may learn to ponder on your word and then cause me to walk in your ways. (cfr. Ez. 36:27)

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IDENTIFY THE ENEMY

Today’s Gospel Text: Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?' 28 He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 29 But he said, 'No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"

31 Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." Matt 13:24-32

Reflection:  Surely every good worker of the kingdom will be surprised at the weed among the wheat. They would not know who has put them there, hence they have to ask the master, how the weeds came about.

There are those, in our days, who have heard the masters injunction to his servants and may even plead that the weed remains there because the master has ordered thus to his beloved servants.

Surely, the seeds of false teachings from false prophets, who are the enemies in our midst, will always exist. This doesn’t mean that the enemy who has sown the seed should remain for long and openly with the master and work to burn the bundles of wheat rather than the bundles of weed.

The apostles who had understood this parable did not take life casually, as shepherds to whom Christ had entrusted his flocks to. They made it a point to help the servants identify those are from the enemy and those who were from the master.

I often see some of the enemies hiding behind this scripture with their tails, pleading that they be spared just as the master have spared the weeds to. They assert that if the weed be removed then the wheat would get harmed.

This should never happen in the church of God, which is the bulwark of truth.

   

The Apostles as masters and shepherds always made it a point to warn the church and never failed to act:  “Any one who goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God; he who abides in the doctrine has both the Father and the Son. If any one comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into the house or give him any greeting; for he who greets him shares his wicked work. 2 John 9-11

(Rom. 16: 17; Eph. 5: 6-7; 1 Cor. 5: 9-11 are some of the scripture passages where you see the apostles seeking to expose or correct the enemies of the gospel of Christ)

In our days when the enemy has infiltrated the shepherd class, there is an urgent need to be alert against the enemy and expose them if need be.

Prayer: “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou who leadest Joseph like a flock! Thou who art enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth before E'phraim and Benjamin and Manas'seh! Stir up thy might, and come to save us!  Restore us, O God; let thy face shine, that we may be saved! Ps 80:1-3

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Be-aware!

Scripture/Bible:   I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, 15 as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father." John 10:11-18

Reflection: Jesus is the good Shepherd who has laid down his life for the sheep. 

When we think about laying down one’s life for the sheep, we may think about the bravery of Jesus to do so.  Bravery is only one reason why one would lay down one’s life. Yet not every form of bravery is worth talking about.

There are some forms of bravery, whereby individuals have laid down their life for a cause and not many, especially those outside of their class, think that their brave action is brave enough to deserve accolades. Some have been brave enough to vanquish the good from their midst. 

Jesus lays down his life in order to protect us from the ravenous wolf; eat me before you touch them. His brave action of laying down his life is a permanent deterrent for the wolf; it helps identify the wolf who comes in deceptive ways, sometimes even as shepherd and sheep.


The enemy, the wolf is totally exposed and only a fool can follow him and take him to be the shepherd or a sound sheep. 

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Matt 7:15

    

Ho, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?  You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. Ezek 34:2-6

We could have shepherds and sheep’s in our midst, either alone or in partnership, working to destroy the sheepfold of God, by working in contravention of the sound doctrine of Jesus. They eat up Jesus and his teaching and instead teach their ways and thus are easily identified as WOLVES.

But to escape the enemies clutches we require the help of the living Jesus. 

Prayer:  Save me Lord in your great wisdom from the ravenous wolves that seek to slaughter us.

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Jesus’ Sheep fold: Safe Haven

Scripture:   What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Matt 18:12-14 

Reflection:  The human example would have been more effective; a man having 10 Children and one of them going astray, etc. etc.  But Godly is wisdom is greater than human wisdom, there is no comparison to God’s wisdom, it has a depth which can be interpreted only with his help.

The shepherd and the sheep parable offers a rich imagery of God’s tender love and care for his chosen one’s. Here is not talking about someone else’s sheep but the man’s won sheep going astray.  If a man could rejoice over a mere sheep gone astray, then how much more God and his holy angels who understand the value of each soul rejoice at the return of the individual gone astray from the Lord.

When we entrust our lives to God, then God constantly comes in search of us if we go astray. In other words what Jesus is telling us is this; when we enter into his sheep fold, then even if you go astray, he will like a good shepherd come in search of you. But remember to remain a part of his sheepfold.

Prayer:  The Lord is my Shepherd there is nothing I shall want!

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