Friday in the Octave of Easter
Jesus is the stone rejected by the builders. Peter applies this commonly quoted passage from Psalm 118 to Jesus and the meaning is fairly clear. As with masons who reject a large ill-formed stone for building the wall of the building and yet find it perfectly suited for the more essential role of keystone for the arch or cornerstone for the building, so Jesus was rejected by his people to play a role among them on earth but was chosen by the Master Builder, God, to become the most important element in the building: the stone all the others depend upon.
What Peter said about Jesus can be applied to our own life of faith. What to us seems useless and of no value–in our world, in our work, in ourselves–becomes, in God’s hands, the heart and soul of a new creation. The new and essential thing of today is fashioned out of yesterday’s refuse.
The message is to bring forth all those areas of our world, our society, and ourselves, which seem least valuable and most awkward. Let God show us their proper place in his wisdom. Let him draw them through the transforming power of his Son into elements in God’s plan of salvation.
Reflection: What part of me or my world that I have considered useless or defective might actually present God an opening to show his mercy and love?
Reflection by Abbot Benedict Neenan, OSB
Posted in Article for Easter, Daily Reflections