St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop & doctor

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17-28a*

(……)They saw (Joseph)in thie

In the distance and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.  They said to one another, “Here comes the specialist in dreams!  ow’s the time! Let’s kill him and throw him into a well. We’ll say a wild animal devoured him.

Then we’ll see what his dreams were all about!” But Reuben heard this and tried to save him from their hands  saying, “Let us not kill him; shed no blood! Throw him in this well in the wilderness, but do him no violence.” This he said to save him from them and take him back to his father.(……)

 

Ps 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21

Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

 

 ＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

Listen to another example: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then, went to a distant country. When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.

Again, the owner sent more servants; but they were treated in the same way. Finally, he sent his son, thinking, 'They will respect my son. But when the tenants saw the son, they thought, 'This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.' So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?" They said to him, "He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due time."

And Jesus replied, "Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, and we marvel at it. Therefore I say to you: the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you, and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these parables, they realized that Jesus was referring to them. They would have arrested him, but they were afraid of the crowd, who regarded him as a prophet.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Becoming Cornerstones

We have stories of victimization today. In the first reading, Joseph is victimized and expelled by his own family. In the gospel, the owner's agents and own son are rejected and murdered – the story refers to Jesus himself.

To the question raised by Jesus as to the reaction of the owner of the vineyard, the audience responds in terms of the "law of karma" – They want the evil men to be brought to an evil end. But Jesus does not agree.

He speaks not of an-eye-for-an-eye, but of entrusting the vineyard to more responsible people, and of the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone for a new world! Neither Joseph nor Jesus takes revenge; both become the cornerstones for the redemption of the very families that rejected them.

This is why in the early Syrian Christian liturgy, Joseph episode was a mandatory reading for Easter – Joseph is essentially a Christological type. What type are you?

 

St.Cyril writes:

"I gave my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to blows; and my face I did not shield from the shame of spitting".

This clearly reflects the teachings of Jesus to turn the other cheeks and not raising your hands against violence because violence just begets violence begets violence.