March 1, 2013

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Friday of the Second Week of Lent 
Lectionary: 234

Reading 1GN 37:3-4, 12-13A, 17B-28A

Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons,
for he was the child of his old age;
and he had made him a long tunic.
When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons,  they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.

Israel, (aka Jacob) loved the son of Rachel more than his other 11 sons, who weere the children of Leah, his first wife and two concubines.  Rachel's son is Joseph.

Jacob made Joseph a beautiful coat of many colors. And his brothers became jealous of how much their father preferred Joseph.

One day, when his brothers had gone
to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem,
Israel said to Joseph,  “Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem.  Get ready; I will send you to them.”

One day, Israel sent Joseph to help his brothers with the sheep.

So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan.  They noticed him from a distance,
and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him.

So, Joseph obediently went to do as he was told.  But when his brothers saw him, they plotted to kill him.

They said to one another: “Here comes that master dreamer!  Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here;  we could say that a wild beast devoured him.  We shall then see what comes of his dreams.”

You really ought to read the whole story about Joseph.



His brothers hated him not just because he was favored by his father.  But also by God.  God had revealed to him in a dream that all his brothers would bow to Joseph.

When Reuben heard this,
he tried to save him from their hands, saying,
“We must not take his life.
Instead of shedding blood,” he continued,
“just throw him into that cistern there in the desert;
but do not kill him outright.”
His purpose was to rescue him from their hands
and return him to his father.

Reuben, the elder brother intended to saved him by having him cast into a well somewhere then coming back to get him.

So when Joseph came up to them,
they stripped him of the long tunic he had on;
then they took him and threw him into the cistern,
which was empty and dry.

So, that's what they did.  They took his clothes and threw him in a dry well.

They then sat down to their meal.Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,
their camels laden with gum, balm and resin
to be taken down to Egypt.
Judah said to his brothers:
“What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?
Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites,
instead of doing away with him ourselves.
After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.”

Then they saw some slave drivers coming and instead of killing him, they decided to sell him off as a slave.

His brothers agreed.They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

They sold their brother for twenty pieces of silver.  The same price that the Jews paid Judas Iscariot for Jesus.

Responsorial PsalmPS 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21

R. (5a) Remember the marvels the Lord has done. 

When the LORD called down a famine on the land
and ruined the crop that sustained them,
He sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

Remember the power of God.
When God brought about hardship to the Jews,
he sent Joseph ahead of them, sold as a slave.

They had weighed him down with fetters,
and he was bound with chains,
Till his prediction came to pass
and the word of the LORD proved him true.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

He was tethered and fettered, but his prophecy came true and showed that God was with him.

The king sent and released him,
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

Pharao released him and made him the lord of all his house even his own kingdom. 

GospelMT 21:33-43, 45-46

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
“Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it,
dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.

Jesus told the Jews a fable.  A story with a lesson.
"there was a farmer who planted many grape vines.  He put a fence around it and built a building where the grapes would be processed into wine.  Then he leased it to some contractors and he went away."

When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.

When it was time to harvest the grapes and process the wine, he sent his servants to the contractors to get his payment.  But the contractors killed the servant.

Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way.

So, he sent another servant.  But they killed him also.

Finally, he sent his son to them,
thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
‘This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

Then the owner sent his son, thinking, "they will respect my son."  But the evil contractors killed him too thinking, "This would have been the son's but now he is dead, it will be ours."

What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?”

Then Jesus asked the Jews, "What will the owner do to the contractors when he comes back?"

They answered him,
“He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times.”

They answered not knowing that the story was about them, "He will kill them all and rent his farm to honest people who will pay him on time."

Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejectedhas become the cornerstone;by the Lord has this been done,and it is wonderful in our eyes?

Then Jesus asked them if they had ever read in the Bible, about the stone that the builders had rejected.  How it was now the stone which held the whole building together because God had done it.

Therefore, I say to you,
the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”

Then he said, "The Kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to the Gentiles who will do the works of God which you refused to do."

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,
they knew that he was speaking about them.
And although they were attempting to arrest him,
they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.

When the leaders of the Jews heard this, they knew He was referring to them and they wanted to arrest Him, but they were afraid because the people loved Him.