+ We have two interesting readings today: Jesus
tells the chief priests, scribes and elders that he knows exactly what they are
up to, even if they are not fully aware of it themselves at this point: they
will kill the son of the vineyard owner,
they will kill the Son-of-God-made-flesh,
they will kill him, but this is so
that he can be vindicated, he can become the
stone rejected that will become the cornerstone of everything and everyone
by means of his glorious resurrection from the dead and triumph over it. These
religious leaders did not like what they heard, but they could not arrest Jesus
because he was popular with the crowds at this particular time.
In the first reading, it is
St. Peter who outlines us for us the steps from faith to love. These are the inner spiritual principles that always
work and once set in motion can make one unpopular with a lot of folks, even
“religious” ones while making perfect sense to others. Peter tells his audience
that faith (the gift that God has
given them to peer into and live supernatural mysteries) must be fortified by virtue, which leads to knowledge, which leads to self-control, which leads to endurance, which leads to devotion, which leads to mutual affection, which leads finally to
love. The other end of faith is love,
and the other end of real love is faith; all other manifestations of either are
false!
May our faith be strengthened
today so that we can leap from step to step on the way to perfect love of God
and others; and in this way may we be like reliable and strong cornerstones in a world that seems to be
crumbling around us in its grasp of what is true, and good and just!
In
you, O God, we place our trust.
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