March 6, 2026
Friday of the Second Week of
Lent
Lectionary: 234
Reading
1
Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a,
17b-28a
Israel loved
Joseph best of all his sons,
for he was the child of his old age;
and he had made him a long tunic.
When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons,
they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.
One day, when his brothers had gone
to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem,
Israel said to Joseph,
"Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem.
Get ready; I will send you to them."
So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan.
They noticed him from a distance,
and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him.
They said to one another: "Here comes that master dreamer!
Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here;
we could say that a wild beast devoured him.
We shall then see what comes of his dreams."
When Reuben heard this,
he tried to save him from their hands, saying,
"We must not take his life.
Instead of shedding blood," he continued,
"just throw him into that cistern there in the desert;
but do not kill him outright."
His purpose was to rescue him from their hands
and return him to his father.
So when Joseph came up to them,
they stripped him of the long tunic he had on;
then they took him and threw him into the cistern,
which was empty and dry.
They then sat down to their meal.
Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,
their camels laden with gum, balm and resin
to be taken down to Egypt.
Judah said to his brothers:
"What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his
blood?
Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites,
instead of doing away with him ourselves.
After all, he is our brother, our own flesh."
His brothers agreed.
They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (5a) Remember
the marvels the Lord has done.
When the LORD called down a famine on the land
and ruined the crop that sustained them,
He sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
They had weighed him down with fetters,
and he was bound with chains,
Till his prediction came to pass
and the word of the LORD proved him true.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
The king sent and released him,
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
Verse
Before the Gospel
God so loved the
world that he gave his only-begotten Son;
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
Gospel
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.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them,
thinking, 'They will respect my son.'
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.'
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
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."
Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
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."
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,
they knew that he was speaking about them.
And although they were attempting to arrest him,
they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030626.cfm
Commentary on Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28
There is a strong
parallel between the stories of Joseph and Jesus in today’s readings. In both
cases the words quoted from the Psalm apply:
The stone that
the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone. (Ps
118:22)
Joseph is the
favourite of Jacob’s twelve sons, the sons who would later become the
patriarchs of God’s people. His brothers became jealous of him and grew to hate
him. They hated him even more for the dreams he told. In one of these, he said
he had a vision of the family bringing in the harvest. In the dream, all his
brothers’ sheaves bowed down before Joseph’s sheaf. This, of course, did happen
later when the brothers came to Egypt during a time of famine in search of
food. Unknown to them at first, Joseph was the grand vizier of Egypt in whose
presence they paid homage.
In today’s
reading, when Joseph, at the instructions of his father, went to visit his
brothers in the fields, they conceived a plot to kill him. However, one of the
brothers, Reuben, intervened and suggested instead that Joseph be thrown down a
dry well, hoping to give him back to their father later. Reuben was the eldest
son, but later fell out of favour after committing incest with his father’s
concubine. Judah subsequently took over leadership of the family. The other
brothers agreed to Reuben’s suggestion because they did not want to have the
blood of their own brother on their hands. Perhaps they remembered what
happened to Cain.
Eventually Joseph
is either sold to Ishmaelites on their way to do business in Egypt or
discovered in the well by Midianites and sold for 20 pieces of silver to
traders on their way to Egypt. In later times, this sum was the value of a male
of Joseph’s age who had been dedicated to the Lord (see Lev 27:5). The father
is later told that his son has died from an attack by animals and is given
back, as proof, the famous multi-coloured coat stained with (goat’s) blood.
Joseph should have
ended up in obscurity as a slave in Egypt, but thanks to his ability to
interpret dreams, he was to win the favour of the Pharaoh and become the chief
minister in Egypt and ultimately the saviour of his own people from famine—a
famine which Joseph had foretold and helped to prepare for.
The story prepares
us for the coming of Jesus, who is clearly the son in the parable featured in
today’s Gospel. Jesus, too, was a ‘man of dreams’, with a vision of life which
was rejected by many close to him. He, too, was sold into the hands of enemies
precisely because of that, to become the saviour of his own people.
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Commentary on Matthew 21:33-43,45-46
Today’s Gospel is
a parable spoken to the unbelieving chief priests and elders of the people. It
is the history of the Israelite people told in parable form. In fact, it is
more of an allegory than a parable, as each of the persons and incidents
described point to real people and real events. Some scholars think that what
we have here is really an early Church document, rather than something directly
from Jesus. What may be more likely is that a parable spoken by Jesus has been
modified in the light of later events.
The owner of the
vineyard is clearly God. The vineyard is the house of Israel, where God’s
people are to be found. The tenants of the vineyard are the people of God.
Servants sent to
collect the harvest are abused in various ways—beaten, killed or stoned. The
servants represent the prophets and other spokespersons sent by God to his
people, many of whom were rejected, not listened to and even abused.
Finally, the owner
decides to send his son, saying:
They will
respect my son.
On the contrary,
the tenants rationalized that, if they got rid of the son, they could take over
the whole vineyard for themselves. They could carry on without the owner.
So they seized the
son, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. This is a clear reference to
Jesus’ being crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem.
And what will the
king do then? Jesus asks. The leaders condemn themselves by answering the
question: “He will put those wretches to a miserable death”—just as happened
when the city of Jerusalem was totally destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
Instead, the
vineyard is let out to new tenants—those Jews and Gentiles, the new people of
God, who believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour. The stone rejected by the
builders becomes the cornerstone. Jesus says:
Therefore I
tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people
that produces its fruits.
This is one of
only two instances where Matthew uses the term ‘Kingdom of God’ rather than
‘Kingdom of Heaven’. The Gentiles had for long been rejected as unbelievers and
outsiders. Now, it is on them, together with those Jews who accepted Jesus,
that the Kingdom will be built.
The Gospel ends by
commenting that the unbelieving priests and elders understood his message
perfectly, but because of Jesus’ popularity with the people, they could do nothing
in retaliation for the moment.
Again and again it
has happened in world history that fighters for truth and justice have been
rejected, jailed and tortured, but eventually found themselves the saviours of
their people. Let us make sure that we are listening to the right people—the
people who have the message of truth, love and justice—and that we follow them.
Jesus, our Saviour, still speaks through his followers.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1026g/
Friday,
March 6, 2026
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
God, we do not want to die; we
want to live.
We want to be happy but without paying the price. We belong to
our times, when sacrifice and suffering are out of fashion. God, make our life
worth living. Give us back the age-old realization, that life means to be born
again and again in pain, that it may become again a journey of hope to You,
together with Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 21: 33-43, 45-46
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. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants
to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and
one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent
other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the
same way. Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my
son.' 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.' They seized him,
threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What will the owner of the
vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?" 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." Jesus said to
them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders
rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is
wonderful in our eyes? 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."
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he
was speaking about them. And although they were attempting to arrest him, they
feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
Reflection
The text of
today’s Gospel forms part of a greater whole which includes Mathew 21: 23-40.
The chief priests and the elders had asked Jesus by what authority He did those
things (Mt 21: 23). They considered themselves the custodians of everything and
they did not want anybody to do things without their permission. Jesus’ answer
is divided into three parts:
1) He, in turn, asks them a
question because He wants to know, in their opinion, if John the Baptist was
from heaven or from earth (Mt 21: 24-27);
2) He then tells them the parable of the two sons (Mt 21: 28-32);
3) He tells them the parable of the vineyard (Mt 21:
33-46), which is today’s Gospel.
•
Matthew 21: 33-40: The parable of the vineyard.
Jesus begins as follows: “Listen to another parable: There was a man, a
landowner, who planted a vineyard, he fenced it around, dug a winepress in it
and built a tower.” The parable is a beautiful summary of the history of
Israel, taken from the prophet Isaiah (Is 5: 1-7). Jesus addresses Himself to
the chief priests, to the elders (Mt 21: 23) and to the Pharisees (Mt 21: 45)
and He gives a response to the question which they addressed to Him about the
origin of His authority (Mt 21: 23). Through this parable, Jesus clarifies
several things: (a) He reveals the origin of His authority: He is the Son, the
heir; (b) He denounces the abuse of the authority of the tenants, that is of
the priests and elders who were not concerned and did not take care of the
people of God; (c) He defends the authority of the prophets, sent by God, but
who were killed by the priests and the elders; (d) He unmasks the authority by
which they manipulate the religion and kill the Son, because they do not want
to lose the source of income which they have accumulated for themselves throughout
the centuries.
•
Matthew 21: 41: The sentence which they give to
themselves. At the end of the parable Jesus asks: “Now, when the owner of the
vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They are not aware that the
parable was speaking precisely of them. This is why, with the response that
they give, they decree their own condemnation: “The chief priests and the
elders of the people answered: ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end
and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him at
the proper time’.” Several times Jesus uses this same method. He leads the
person to tell the truth about himself, without knowing that he is condemning
himself. For example, in the case of the Pharisee who condemns the young woman,
considering her a sinner (Luke 7: 42-43), and in the case of the parable of the
two sons (Mt 21: 28-32).
•
Matthew 21: 42-46: The sentence given by
themselves was confirmed by their behavior. From the clarification given by
Jesus, the chief priests, the elders and the Pharisees understand that the
parable is about them, but they do not convert. Rather, they keep to their own
plan to kill Jesus. They will reject “the cornerstone.” But they do not have
the courage to do it openly because they fear the reaction of the people.
The diverse groups which held the power at the time of
Jesus. In today’s Gospel three groups appear, which, at that time, governed:
the priests, the elders, and the Pharisees. Then, some brief information on the
power which each of these groups and others had is given:
•
The priests: They were the ones in charge of the
worship in the Temple. The people paid the Temple a tithe and other taxes and
offerings. The High Priest occupied a very important place in the life of the
nation, especially after the exile. He was chosen and appointed from among the
three or four aristocratic families who possessed more power and riches.
•
The elders or the Chief Priests of the People:
They were the local leaders in the different villages of the city. Their origin
came from the heads of the ancient tribes.
•
The Sadducees: they were the lay aristocratic
elite of society who wanted to maintain a priestly caste. Many of them were
rich merchants or landlords. From the religious point of view they were liberal
in their willingness to incorporate Hellenism into their lives. They did not
accept the changes supported by the Pharisees, for example, faith in the
resurrection and the existence of angels.
•
The Pharisees: Pharisee means “separated.” They
believed in the Oral Law handed down from Moses and that through the perfect
observance of the Law of purity, people would succeed in being pure, separated,
and holy as the Law and Tradition demanded! Because of the exemplary witness of
their life according to the norms of the time, their moral authority was
widespread in the villages of Galilee.
•
Scribe or doctor of the Law: They were the ones
in charge of teaching. They dedicated their life to the study of the Law of God
and taught people what to do to observe all the Law of God. Not all the Scribes
belonged to the same line. Some were united with the Pharisees, others with the
Sadducees.
Personal Questions
•
Have you sometimes felt that you were unduly
controlled or misunderstood? What was your reaction? Was it the same as that of
Jesus?
•
If Jesus returned today and told us the same
parable, would it be as relevant? What would the reaction be from society and
on a personal level?
Concluding Prayer
As far as heaven is above the
earth,
so strong is the faithful love of the Lord for those who fear
Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far from us does He put our
faults. (Ps 103: 11-12)
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