Daily Readings - Mon Jun 03 2024
2 Peter
1Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:2May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.3His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,4by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.5For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
Mark
1And he began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country.2When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.3And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.4Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.5And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.6He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'7But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'8And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.9What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.10Have you not read this Scripture: "'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;11this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"12And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.
Sermon
In today’s readings, we are invited to reflect on our relationship with God and our response to His gifts. The second letter of Peter encourages us to grow in faith and virtue, listing qualities such as knowledge, moderation, patience, piety, and love. This growth is not passive but requires our active participation, building on the faith we have received. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the vineyard, where the owner’s patience with the tenants is met with rejection and violence, ultimately leading to the loss of the vineyard. This parable reflects God’s patience with humanity and the consequences of rejecting His messengers.
These readings connect by highlighting the call to be good stewards of what God has entrusted to us. Peter’s list of virtues is a roadmap for living out our faith, while the parable serves as a reminder of the gravity of rejecting God’s gifts. Just as the tenants failed to recognize the owner’s generosity, we risk losing the spiritual inheritance if we do not nurture it through virtue and love.
In our daily lives, let us examine how we respond to God’s gifts. Are we growing in faith and virtue, or are we complacent? Let us not reject the messengers of God’s love but instead embrace the call to holiness. May we use our gifts to bear fruit, cooperating with God’s grace to become the people He calls us to be.