Produce its Fruit March 9

Get ready; I will send you to them. Genesis 37:13

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes? Matthew 21:42

Piety

God, Divine-Builder, deliver us from mistaking our will for Your will. Deliver us from judging others. Deliver us from holding a grudge. Deliver us from forgetting to be friendly. Deliver us from cutting off that driver who tries to get in front of us. Deliver us from not treating our co-workers and employees with the respect they deserve as children of God. Deliver us from remaining silent in the face of injustice. Deliver us from the Internet and advertising. Deliver us from the new and deliver to us the used.

Help us to treat our co-workers, employees and associates with the respect they deserve as children of God. Deliver us from remaining silent in the face of injustice. Deliver us from the Internet and advertising. Deliver us from the new and deliver to us the used. Help us to pass by things we don’t need and share out of our abundance.

Test us so that our faith and fortitude and action may increase in our community. Help us to overcome evil with good toward each person. Help us to turn to You for everything we need, crying out “Here I am Lord, I come to do YOUR will.” Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/030907.shtm

Think of a time when you were rejected. Did you feel wonderful in the Lord’s eyes or may a little rejected like Joseph? Did you feel like a part of Jesus was with you? Maybe it was a time people debunked your ideas. Maybe it was a time when you faced the unemployment line. Maybe it was a time when your application to a college or program was rejected.

Rejection is a central part of the resurrection narrative. Without the rejection by Judas (and the rejection by Joseph’s brothers) of the message and mission of Christ, there would be no arrest in the Garden. No flogging. No crown of thorns. No cross. No nails.

Get ready. God will send you to your mission just as he sent Joseph.

Get ready. You will not be received with any more hospitality than Joseph.

Get ready to be thrown in the cistern and then sold into slavery with your enemies.

Get ready for rejection. For through that rejection, you will produce great fruit. Only through the risk of rejection can we bear great fruit. Otherwise, “the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”

Amen.

Action

How do you cope with rejection? How can you help others cope with such an emotion?