Rejected

The WORD today (See http://usccb.org/bible/readings/060115.cfm) reminds me that rejection should not affect us.

Not all people can deal with rejection. Some are greatly affected by it, that it turns into depression that can lead to worse things. We want to be accepted by people. That is why it hurts to be rejected. However, we see in the gospel that rejection does not mean something is wrong with you. you can still be rejected for doing what is good and what is right.

Rejection, as long as not from God, should not bother us.

In the gospel, we see how the servants of God, and even Jesus himself got rejected a lot of times. It even cost them their lives eventually. However, rejection did not stop them from doing God’s work. And rejection cannot stop God from fulfilling his plans. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The builders, the leaders at that time, rejected Jesus. But God, in his ultimate power, made Jesus the cornerstone, the foundation of the faith, the most important stone in a structure. This reminds us that no worldly rejection can stop God’s plan and power.

We may experience rejections in our life as we do God’s work. But we should always think that no matter how painful it may be, it is still not enough to stop God from using us mightily. No matter how difficult it may be to accept or face rejections, they cannot stop God from completing his plans for us. We just need to focus on God and ask him to continue to be with us as we face rejections in life.

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. thank you for another chance to love and serve you. thank you for all the blessings, and for all the rejections. Thank you for in these rejections, I know you are working in me. thank you for in these rejections, I feel your love, your comfort, and your power more. Help me just focus on you and trust in you. amen.

Blessed day!

In Christ,

-g-

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June 1, 2015

Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr

Lectionary: 353

Reading 1 Tb 1:3; 2:1a-8

I, Tobit, have walked all the days of my life

on the paths of truth and righteousness.

I performed many charitable works for my kinsmen and my people

who had been deported with me to Nineveh, in Assyria.

On our festival of Pentecost, the feast of Weeks,

a fine dinner was prepared for me, and I reclined to eat.

The table was set for me,

and when many different dishes were placed before me,

I said to my son Tobiah: “My son,

go out and try to find a poor man

from among our kinsmen exiled here in Nineveh.

If he is a sincere worshiper of God, bring him back with you,

so that he can share this meal with me.

Indeed, son, I shall wait for you to come back.”

Tobiah went out to look for some poor kinsman of ours.

When he returned he exclaimed, “Father!”

I said to him, “What is it, son?”

He answered, “Father, one of our people has been murdered!

His body lies in the market place where he was just strangled!”

I sprang to my feet, leaving the dinner untouched;

and I carried the dead man from the street

and put him in one of the rooms,

so that I might bury him after sunset.

Returning to my own quarters, I washed myself

and ate my food in sorrow.

I was reminded of the oracle

pronounced by the prophet Amos against Bethel:

“All your festivals shall be turned into mourning,

and all your songs into lamentation.”

And I wept.

Then at sunset I went out, dug a grave, and buried him.

The neighbors mocked me, saying to one another:

“He is still not afraid!

Once before he was hunted down for execution

because of this very thing;

yet now that he has scarcely escaped,

here he is again burying the dead!”

Responsorial Psalm PS 112:1b-2, 3b-4, 5-6

R. (1b) Blessed the man who fears the Lord.

or:

R. Alleluia.

Blessed the man who fears the LORD,

who greatly delights in his commands.

His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;

the upright generation shall be blessed.

R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.

or:

R. Alleluia.

His generosity shall endure forever.

Light shines through the darkness for the upright;

he is gracious and merciful and just.

R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.

or:

R. Alleluia.

Well for the man who is gracious and lends,

who conducts his affairs with justice;

He shall never be moved;

the just man shall be in everlasting remembrance.

R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.

or:

R. Alleluia.

Alleluia See Rev 1:5ab

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus Christ, you are the faithful witness,

the first born of the dead;

you have loved us and freed us from our sins by your Blood.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mk 12:1-12

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes,

and the elders in parables.

“A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it,

dug a wine press, and built a tower.

Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey.

At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants

to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard.

But they seized him, beat him,

and sent him away empty-handed.

Again he sent them another servant.

And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully.

He sent yet another whom they killed.

So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed.

He had one other to send, a beloved son.

He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’

But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir.

Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

So they seized him and killed him,

and threw him out of the vineyard.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do?

He will come, put the tenants to death,

and give the vineyard to others.

Have you not read this Scripture passage:

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

by the Lord has this been done,

and it is wonderful in our eyes?”

They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd,

for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them.

So they left him and went away.