Following Jesus is a communal activity, it can only be done with others.

 

READING

Matthew 21:33-46

Jesus said, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

 

PRAYERS

The work of the harvest takes many hands; let us pray now to the Lord of the vineyard that our work might bring forth abundant fruit

We pray for the church, in all its diversity across the world, that we might find ways to work in concert for the good of all, leaving no fruit behind.

We pray for the leaders of the world, in government, business, media, and the arts; that they might be inspired by God’s mercy and grace to cast a beautiful vision for our world and labor diligently to bring it forth

We pray for our local communities, that we might see the work that needs to be done and take it up with willing hands and loving hearts

We pray for the creation, that the willful neglect of our resources might be overcome and that we become careful stewards so that the abundance of God’s work might be preserved and expanded for generations to come

We pray for all who suffer from disease, from loneliness, from neglect, and from ignorance might be made whole and know the power of Christ’s healing touch.

We pray for those who have died, that their labors might not be forgotten but taken up by new hands, and that we might join with them and all the saints from every generation, in you new age.

Creating and sustaining God, you have empowered us to be the hands and feet of Christ in this world, to continue his ministry and to labor in the vineyard, this wonderful world you have created for us.  Grant us strength and courage to do so and answer our prayers as may be best for us and to your glory.  Amen

 

MUSIC

Brother

Franciscan Friars of the Renewal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVNktRGU3As

 

What wondrous love is this

Minnesota choral Singers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG6RhGv3Qz8

 

Lord you are the wine

Brother JT

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Brother_JT/