OXYGEN

05 Mar
_____________________

Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28

Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, for he was the son of his old age, and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him. But his brothers, seeing how his father loved him more than all his other sons, came to hate him so much that they could not say a civil word to him.

His brothers went to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem. Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers with the flock at Shechem? Come, I am going to send you to them.’ So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them they made a plot among themselves to put him to death. ‘Here comes the man of dreams’ they said to one another. ‘Come on, let us kill him and throw him into some well; we can say that a wild beast devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams.’

But Reuben heard, and he saved him from their violence. ‘We must not take his life’ he said. ‘Shed no blood,’ said Reuben to them ‘throw him into this well in the wilderness, but do not lay violent hands on him’ – intending to save him from them and to restore him to his father. So, when Joseph reached his brothers, they pulled off his coat, the coat with long sleeves that he was wearing, and catching hold of him they threw him into the well, an empty well with no water in it. They then sat down to eat.

Looking up they saw a group of Ishmaelites who were coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, tragacanth, balsam and resin, which they were taking down into Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do any harm to him. After all, he is our brother, and our own flesh.’ His brothers agreed.

Now some Midianite merchants were passing, and they drew Joseph up out of the well. They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver pieces, and these men took Joseph to Egypt.
_____________________

Matthew 21:33-43,45-46

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, ‘Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third. Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger number, and they dealt with them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.” So they seized him and 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 answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:

It was the stone rejected by the builders
that became the keystone.
This was the Lord’s doing
and it is wonderful to see?

‘I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’

When they heard his parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised he was speaking about them, but though they would have liked to arrest him they were afraid of the crowds, who looked on him as a prophet.
_____________________

… what will he do to those tenants?

While studying and working overseas, I stayed in a rented house with other housemate. It was not easy trying to get used to the behaviour of a new person moving in. I was glad that the irresponsible ones did not stay long, but I also had very wonderful housemates in the past years. We as tenants to the property had the responsibility to maintain what was rented to us. Moreover, it is always nice to come back to a clean and cosy house. If things are not maintained properly, and if we trashed the living quarters, the landlord had the right to evict us and we could have been left homeless.

Today’s readings mentioned jealousy, greed and violence. In the reading from Genesis, Joseph’s envious brothers came together to get rid of him who was their father’s favourite. The brothers hoped that with Joseph no longer alive, all would be given to them. In the Gospel passage, the tenants got greedy and decided to keep the produce for themselves instead of paying back to the owner what was rightfully his.

What sort of tenants are we? Sometimes we are so driven by the power of money that it is very easy for us to lose focus. When we are full of envy, we think of plans to get ourselves in a better position above others, so that we can be out in front and be noticed. Our values get shelved and the goal veers towards having ownership and credit even at the expense of others.

Let us be responsible tenants within our fenced-up vineyard, and return the favour to others which they deserve because God will reward us when the time comes. He will reward us with a bigger vineyard to tend to.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Austin Leong)
_____________________

Prayer: Lord, guide me to make just decisions that will not hurt others but be rewarded what I deserve, so that I remain as your tenant in producing good fruits.

Thanksgiving: Thank You Father for the opportunities that were given to me each day without fail, so that I live a new day praising and honouring You as my creator.

Upcoming Readings:
Sat, 06 Mar – Micah 7:14-15,18-20; Luke 15:1-3,11-32
Sun, 07 Mar – Exodus 3:1-8,13-15; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6,10-12; Luke 13:1-9; Third Sunday Sunday of Lent