collect call
"In due time He dispatched a man in His service to the tenants to obtain from them His share of produce from the vineyard." —Mark 12:2
Our heavenly Father is the Owner of the vineyard, this world. It all belongs to Him. He created it and therefore owns it (Mk 12:1ff; Is 5:1ff). The Father sends servants to pick up what rightfully belongs to Him. These servants are our spouses, families, co-workers, the poor, the rich, the depressed, and even strangers.
We as tenant farmers can refuse God His rights and beat up His servants (Mk 12:1ff), or we can acknowledge His ownership. Our time and money, bodies and souls, strength and energy, hands and feet, homes and jobs must be given to God through the people He sends into our lives (cf Mk 12:29-31).
Someone's knocking on the door. He or she is from God. God is taking it back. Will you let it go? Or will you beat up the servant through apathy and selfishness? Whatever we do to the least of the brethren, that is what we do to Him (Mt 25:40).
Prayer: Jesus, You gave Your life for me and thereby gave it all back to the Father. May I do the same.
Promise: "He has bestowed on us the great and precious things He promised, so that through these you who have fled a world corrupted by lust might become sharers of the divine nature." —2 Pt 1:4
Praise: St. Boniface gave nearly eighty years of his life in tireless service to the Lord, and was then honored with a martyr's death.
Reference: (For a related teaching, order our tape on Apathy on audio AV 61-3 or video V-61.)
Rescript: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 12, 2005
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