What Will The Owner Of The Vineyard Do?

What Will The Owner Of The Vineyard Do?

June 4, 2012
Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.  2 Peter 1:6-7

What [then] will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others.  Mark 12:9

Piety

Father, you have bestowed upon us everything that makes for life and devotion, when we commit to know you through our piety, study and action.  Jesus, help us to escape the shallow life that the world corrupts so that we may lead our lives for your sake alone.  Holy Spirit, grant us the gifts that support virtue, self-control, devotion and love in order to give our lives totally over to the Lord. Amen.

Study

Today's Gospel story challenges the scripture knowledge of the people to whom he preached.  The meaning of the story of the killing of the landlord's son was not lost on this crowd.  When Jesus posed the rhetorical question about knowing the passage about the stone the builders rejected was patently obvious to them.  While the seeds of insurrection were being sown that day, the confrontation would wait until another time.

The lessons from the Second Letter to Peter could easily be applied to the crowd that gathered that day.  While these people had the knowledge of scripture, they did not supplement that with action.  While they were a temple-attending group, they did not balance their piety with love.  Their tripod was not balanced on all three legs.  

Action

What will the owner of the vineyard do with us?  

How would our knowledge of scripture measured up if we were in the audience that day? Would our piety shine through?  Would our action spring forth from this knowledge of God and sacred scripture?  How does it measure up today?

Despite the approach of summer, recommit yourself to the Cursillo Tripod in your daily life over the summer months.  Set aside daily time for prayer.  Read a book to advance your study each month.  Pick up a volunteer project that you can support.