Make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7

       I saw in my Facebook newsfeed an unusual family picture with two daughters, a dad, and a coffin at the back with a photo of a mom. What made it more unusual was they were all smiling and greeting everyone a happy new year.

       Rocky lost his wife, Agnes, to cancer at the age of 39. For the last two years of her life, he had prayed for her full healing. But she passed on, leaving her family behind.

       It would have been natural for Rocky to doubt if God even heard his prayers. But because he prayed unceasingly, he grew intimate with Him. Peace guarded his heart and mind. He knew that even though his wife didn’t receive physical healing, she was completely healed and no longer in pain. In his own words, “Our Father has answered our prayers and has given Agnes the peace and eternal life that only Jesus can give.”

       Let today’s reading and the story of Rocky inspire us to pray in all circumstances so that, in the face of tribulations, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds. Veia Lim (veiallim@gmail.com)

Reflection: Prayer doesn’t change the mind of God; it changes our hearts.

Heavenly Father, reveal Your face to me as I pray. May I find peace in the truth that You are always with me.

This is not a comforting prophecy. Isaiah is prophesying a time of ruin and defeat for Judah. Israel has already been exiled to Assyria and now Judah will follow. The people have chosen not to follow the Lord. They have disobeyed the Law and taken on false gods, and chosen lives of injustice and intemperance. Is God punishing them? I think this is the consequence of rebelling against the ways of God and swapping them for the ways of pagans.

1 Let me now sing of my friend, my friend’s song concerning his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside; 2 he spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines; within it he built a watchtower, and hewed out a wine press. Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes. 3 Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard: 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done? Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? 5 Now, I will let you know what I mean to do with my vineyard: take away its hedge, give it to grazing, break through its wall, let it be trampled! 6 Yes, I will make it a ruin: it shall not be pruned or hoed, but overgrown with thorns and briers; I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it. 7 The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his cherished plant; he looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed! For justice, but hark, the outcry!

R: The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.

9 A vine from Egypt you transplanted; you drove away the nations and planted it. 12 It put forth its foliage to the Sea, its shoots as far as the River. (R) 13 Why have you broken down its walls, so that every passer-by plucks its fruit, 14 the boar from the forest lays it waste, and the beasts of the field feed upon it? (R) 15 Once again, O Lord of hosts, look down from heaven, and see; take care of this vine, 16 and protect what your right hand has planted the son of man whom you yourself made strong. (R) 19 Then we will no more withdraw from you; give us new life, and we will call upon your name. 20 O Lord God of hosts, restore us; if your face shine upon us, then we shall be saved. (R)

Paul outlines the things that will bring us life. They are the things that are honorable, true, pure, lovely, gracious and just. We should strive for these things as they are the foundation for holiness and righteousness. If we choose the ways of the world, we will never find true peace in our hearts. But if we choose the ways of God, we will never lose true peace.

6 Brothers and sisters: Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. 7 Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.

We will be asked on Judgment Day what we have done for the Kingdom of God. It is not a competition as to who has built the most churches or won the most souls for the Lord. It is rather a time when we will have to give an accounting for the blessings God has bestowed on us. How well do we use the gifts and talents He has given us? Are we bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God?

I have chosen you from the world, says the Lord, to go and bear fruit that will remain.

33 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. 34 When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. 35 But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. 36 Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 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.’ 39 They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?” 41 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.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected2 has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes? 43 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.”

think: How are you using the gifts and talents the Lord has given you?

Read the Bible in one year Wisdom 1-4

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________________________

MASTER AND TENANTS

Today’s parable begins with a simple line: “There was a landowner who planted a vineyard…” This pithy line actually summarizes the whole of the parable. God is the landowner. He owns everything.

       “Landowner” not only summarizes the parable but likewise describes a key principle of Christian spirituality. God is the source of everything we HAVE and ARE.

       Every Sunday at Mass, we proclaim in the Apostle’s Creed: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” The Nicene Creed’s version is more insightful. It goes: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.” “Of all that is seen and unseen” means God owns everything, not only the visible world, but even the invisible. Nothing escapes God’s authority. The Christian God is not just one deity among many others. God is not simply the highest being in the world. God is beyond the world. No one and nothing, therefore, is beyond God’s province and provenance.

       The parable continues: “When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his produce” (v. 34). Since we are but stewards, we will face the “landowner” for a time of reckoning. There will be a time of accounting.

       As tenants and stewards of God’s gifts, we are given the privilege to dispose of God’s wonderful creation. The question we need to ask is this: Did my enjoyment of God’s bounty take the direction of responsible use or did it take the path of misuse and abuse? One way to determine the answer is to imagine ourselves at the end of our life’s journey. Christian writer Rick Warren cleverly suggested: “When your time comes, can you say like Jesus, ‘It is finished’ or would you say, ‘I am finished.’” “It is finished” means mission  accomplished. “I am finished” means mission failed.

---------- REFLECTION QUESTION ----------

What area of your life do you still have to surrender under God’s Lordship?