Friday of the Second Week of Lent
O my Lord, what you had to endure! O my Lord, what you must still endure from us, your wayward children!
The parable of the Wicked Tenants is a strong indictment. The Jewish religious leaders apparently did not realize Jesus was using it to speak about them. They did, however, understand clearly that He was accusing them of abuse and sin when he said that God would remove His Kingdom from them to give it to people outside of the covenant.
As contemporary readers, we think how hard it must be for the chief priests and elders to hear this damning parable about them. However, the parable is also about us! The Jewish people may have shared in the historical murders of the prophets, yet each one of us baptized Christians shared Original Sin and has committed actual sin. We participated in crucifying God’s only Son.
The Genesis reading of Joseph’s brothers’ jealousy leading to them selling him into slavery is symbolic of our disassociation from sin and repentance. In contemporary academic terms, Joseph’s treatment is a kind of othering – the process of one group marginalizing a person or group to the point that certain dignities can be removed. We think it must be hard to hear such harsh indictments from Christ, while we in fact are indicted.
“Remember that doing penance is not only necessary but also urgent,” writes Blessed Clelia Merloni. “We imagine that later our conversion will be easier, while on the contrary, our procrastination makes it even harder by weakening grace, strengthening habit, hardening our heart, and angering God against us… If you really want to become holy as Jesus wants you to, you must commit to this task all the ardor and noble enthusiasm of which you are capable” (Spiritual Anthology).
Reflection by Fr. Pachomius Meade, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources