Fr. Bob’s Weekly Reflections

The past few weeks, Jesus has told us parables. Listeners see Jesus on the attack. In our Gospel today, the Pharisees have had enough. They plan a counterattack.

Many years ago, I was asked by our Friars in Kingston, Jamaica to give a youth retreat. Many think of Jamaica as an island of wonderful beaches and great hotels.

We have a great deal of talk about vineyards today, in both the Old and New Testament. Our first reading begins on a happy note. It tells of a man who has a vineyard.

Many parents can identify with the Gospel today. Jesus is not speaking about wayward children. He is speaking about the Chief Priests and the Elders.

I’d like to put the emphasis on today’s first reading, from Isaiah. The beginning of this reading is practical: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call Him while He is near.”

The Gospel today opens with a straight question from Peter. “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often should I forgive him?” The answer Jesus offers: Seventy times seven.

This Gospel today reminded me of words from the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa: “Sometimes, we must forgive in order to live.”

We hear a dark message from Jesus today. He is not the sweet Jesus we’ve come to know. He is brutally honest and straightforward: “I am going to Jerusalem to suffer and die.

Not many people are honest enough or brave enough to ask the question in today’s Gospel. Just think about you asking some friend, or perhaps, more courageously some enemy, “Who do you say that I am? What do people think of me?” Or take a step forward and ask yourself, “Who am I?”

We have a dramatic scene in today’s Gospel. Jesus and His disciples are walking along and a woman comes up to them, in hysterics. She is crying with the intensity of a mother whose child needs help. She is not a Jew, but she must have heard of this Wonder Worker who cures people.