5 October 2014

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Final document of the 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family

(Update : The official final Synod document is still in processing and will be released soon. Below document is the summary by the Synod Fathers)

The 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family had been concluded, and we give thanks to God for helping His Church to defend the true Faith, and that He did not allow those who wished to see our Faith compromised and destroyed to have their way. May the Lord continue to watch over His Church as we await the second part of the Synod of the Family in 2015.

The Church is the guardian of the Tradition of the Faith and the Deposit of the Faith, and no one may alter the teachings of the Church which came down to us from the Apostles and thus from Jesus Christ our Lord. We can help sinners to return to the Faith but not to offer false mercy. The sanctity of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is inviolable, and marriage is between one man and one woman, made one by the Lord and no man should divide. Remember that Jesus had said that those who divorce and remarry commit adultery and thus live in a state of grave sin.

The same state of sin also apply to all others in unnatural order outside of Christian marriage, and until they repent from their sins and make their penance, they should indeed abstain from receiving the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ, lest they sin against the Holy Spirit. Let us help them by welcoming them back and guiding them to repentance, that one day they may once again receive the Lord with full faith.

I also recommend all of you to read the Papal Encyclical Humanae Vitae by Blessed Pope Paul VI and the Theology of the Body by Pope St. John Paul II, as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The text of the final summary document of the 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family can be found below.

http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2014/10/18/0768/03043.html

 

III EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY

OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS

 

MESSAGE

            We, Synod Fathers, gathered in Rome together with Pope Francis in the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, greet all families of the different continents and in particular all who follow Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We admire and are grateful for the daily witness which you offer us and the world with your fidelity, faith, hope, and love.

Each of us, pastors of the Church, grew up in a family, and we come from a great variety of backgrounds and experiences. As priests and bishops we have lived alongside families who have spoken to us and shown us the saga of their joys and their difficulties.

The preparation for this synod assembly, beginning with the questionnaire sent to the Churches around the world, has given us the opportunity to listen to the experience of many families. Our dialogue during the Synod has been mutually enriching, helping us to look at the complex situations which face families today.

We offer you the words of Christ: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20). On his journeys along the roads of the Holy Land, Jesus would enter village houses. He continues to pass even today along the streets of our cities. In your homes there are light and shadow. Challenges often present themselves and at times even great trials. The darkness can grow deep to the point of becoming a dense shadow when evil and sin work into the heart of the family.

We recognize the great challenge to remain faithful in conjugal love. Enfeebled faith and indifference to true values, individualism, impoverishment of relationships, and stress that excludes reflection leave their mark on family life. There are often crises in marriage, often confronted in haste and without the courage to have patience and reflect, to make sacrifices and to forgive one another. Failures give rise to new relationships, new couples, new civil unions, and new marriages, creating family situations which are complex and problematic, where the Christian choice is not obvious.

We think also of the burden imposed by life in the suffering that can arise with a child with special needs, with grave illness, in deterioration of old age, or in the death of a loved one. We admire the fidelity of so many families who endure these trials with courage, faith, and love. They see them not as a burden inflicted on them, but as something in which they themselves give, seeing the suffering Christ in the weakness of the flesh.

We recall the difficulties caused by economic systems, by the “the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose” (Evangelii gaudium 55) which weakens the dignity of people. We remember unemployed parents who are powerless to provide basic needs for their families, and youth who see before them days of empty expectation, who are prey to drugs and crime.

We think of so many poor families, of those who cling to boats in order to reach a shore of survival, of refugees wandering without hope in the desert, of those persecuted because of their faith and the human and spiritual values which they hold. These are stricken by the brutality of war and oppression. We remember the women who suffer violence and exploitation, victims of human trafficking, children abused by those who ought to have protected them and fostered their development, and the members of so many families who have been degraded and burdened with difficulties. “The culture of prosperity deadens us…. all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us” (Evangelii gaudium 54). We call on governments and international organizations to promote the rights of the family for the common good.

Christ wanted his Church to be a house with doors always open to welcome everyone. We warmly thank our pastors, lay faithful, and communities who accompany couples and families and care for their wounds.

***

There is also the evening light behind the windowpanes in the houses of the cities, in modest residences of suburbs and villages, and even in mere shacks, which shines out brightly, warming bodies and souls. This light—the light of a wedding story—shines from the encounter between spouses: it is a gift, a grace expressed, as the Book of Genesis says (2:18), when the two are “face to face” as equal and mutual helpers. The love of man and woman teaches us that each needs the other in order to be truly self. Each remains different from the other that opens self and is revealed in the reciprocal gift. It is this that the bride of the Song of Songs sings in her canticle: “My beloved is mine and I am his… I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” (Song of Songs 2:16; 6:3).

 

This authentic encounter begins with courtship, a time of waiting and preparation. It is realized in the sacrament where God sets his seal, his presence, and grace. This path also includes sexual relationship, tenderness, intimacy, and beauty capable of lasting longer than the vigor and freshness of youth. Such love, of its nature, strives to be forever to the point of laying down one’s life for the beloved (cf Jn 15:13). In this light conjugal love, which is unique and indissoluble, endures despite many difficulties. It is one of the most beautiful of all miracles and the most common.

This love spreads through fertility and generativity, which involves not only the procreation of children but also the gift of divine life in baptism, their catechesis, and their education. It includes the capacity to offer life, affection, and values—an experience possible even for those who have not been able to bear children. Families who live this light-filled adventure become a sign for all, especially for young people.

This journey is sometimes a mountainous trek with hardships and falls. God is always there to accompany us. The family experiences his presence in affection and dialogue between husband and wife, parents and children, sisters and brothers. They embrace him in family prayer and listening to the Word of God—a small, daily oasis of the spirit. They discover him every day as they educate their children in the faith and in the beauty of a life lived according to the Gospel, a life of holiness. Grandparents also share in this task with great affection and dedication. The family is thus an authentic domestic Church that expands to become the family of families which is the ecclesial community. Christian spouses are called to become teachers of faith and of love for young couples as well.

Another expression of fraternal communion is charity, giving, nearness to those who are last, marginalized, poor, lonely, sick, strangers, and families in crisis, aware of the Lord’s word, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). It is a gift of goods, of fellowship, of love and mercy, and also a witness to the truth, to light, and to the meaning of life.

The high point which sums up all the threads of communion with God and neighbor is the Sunday Eucharist when the family and the whole Church sits at table with the Lord. He gives himself to all of us, pilgrims through history towards the goal of the final encounter when “Christ is all and in all” (Col 3:11). In the first stage of our Synod itinerary, therefore, we have reflected on how to accompany those who have been divorced and remarried and on their participation in the sacraments.

We Synod Fathers ask you walk with us towards the next Synod. The presence of the family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in their modest home hovers over you. United to the Family of Nazareth, we raise to the Father of all our petition for the families of the world:

            Father, grant to all families the presence of strong and wise spouses who may be the source of a free and united family.

            Father, grant that parents may have a home in which to live in peace with their families.

            Father, grant that children may be a sign of trust and hope and that young people may have the courage to forge life-long, faithful commitments.

            Father, grant to all that they may be able to earn bread with their hands, that they may enjoy serenity of spirit and that they may keep aflame the torch of faith even in periods of darkness.

            Father, grant that we may all see flourish a Church that is ever more faithful and credible, a just and humane city, a world that loves truth, justice and mercy.

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(Usus Antiquior) Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Memorial of St. Placidus and Companions, Martyrs (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 October 2014 : Homily and Scripture Reflections

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today Jesus our Lord highlighted to us on how the Lord is love, and Jesus Himself is love, as He is Son of God and therefore, is God. He at the same time is also the Son of David, as his legal descendant through Joseph, His foster-father, and therefore is the heir and indeed the one true and only King of the kingdom given to His ancestor David, as God had promised to David himself His servant, that his heir and descendant would sit forever on his throne.

And the commandments and the Laws which God had given to His people, which they knew as the Ten Commandments, together with all the accompanying laws and customs are all actually about love, and love that we need to express both to God, as well as to our fellow men, to our parents, our brothers and sisters around us. For the commandments were given to us, not to burden us unnecessarily with laws and customs, but to help us on our way to reach the Lord.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law favoured and imposed a very puritanical, fanatical and punitive approach of applying the Law to the people entrusted to them. In total, there were in fact up to six hundred and thirteen laws, customs and its various applications. Those numerous laws and customs strained the people and made life difficult for them, and the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were quick to condemn all those who committed the slightest act of disobedience.

And they were very quick to praise themselves and seek human approval, when they did what they had done in life. They thought highly of themselves and sought to advance their own cause, and their own standing among men, thinking that in their piety, they have earned the right to boast and to be proud on their ways, and that they had fulfilled the way and the will of the Lord.

No, Jesus made it very clear to them, that they would not be justified by what they had done. On the other hand, they would indeed be condemned, for their failure to guide the people of God entrusted to them on the right path. They have not led the people to grow stronger and deeper in love, but instead they oppressed the people for their own benefits, and they were concerned only about themselves.

If they themselves were not faithful to the commandments of the Lord, then it is definitely also impossible for the people of God to follow their examples to be faithful as well. Their faith was empty and meaningless, and their ego was their undoing. They were unable to control themselves and allowed themselves to be controlled by their emotions and desires. As such, they refused to listen to Jesus and refused to believe in Him and in His works.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all learn from what we had heard today, that we may all grow better and stronger in our own faith. That we will not follow the examples of the Pharisees and the elders of Israel, but instead listen to God, through Christ who had made all things clear to us. We have to obey the commandments of God, but not just to obey them for the sake of obeying. On the other hand, we should understand the real meaning and purpose of the Law, that is for us to know and to learn about love.

Our faith without love is empty and meaningless, and indeed, if we do not play our part in living our faith with real devotion, to love God with all of our strength, and with all of our heart, and if we do not love our brethren and our neighbours in the same manner, then we cannot find justification in the Lord, and we will have no part in His grace and blessing.

Today we celebrate together as the Church, the feast of St. Placidus and his thirty companions, who were martyred together for their faith in God, at the time of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, the architect and mastermind behind the last and greatest of the persecutions of the faithful by the Roman Empire. St. Placidus and his companions, the fellow martyrs of the faith, refused to compromise their faith and devotion to God, just for the sake of preserving their lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this we can see the real contrast between the actions of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who compromised the purity and the truth about their faith, and what they ought to do to teach the faithful, for the sake of temporary and worldly pleasures and to satisfy their own wants and ego. Meanwhile, the holy martyrs, led by St. Placidus became an example to all others who looked upon their actions. Their staunch and strong faith in the Lord did not give way to the world and to their own desires. Instead, through their obedience and their shedding of their blood for the Lord, they helped many others to stay faithful to the Lord.

Therefore, let us today renew our commitment to the Lord, inspired by the example of St. Placidus and his companions in holy martyrdom, so that in all the things we do, in all the things we say, we may be truly loving in all things, that our ways may be made of love, and we will be worthy of being called the children of God, who is Love Himself. God bless us all. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Memorial of St. Placidus and Companions, Martyrs (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 October 2014 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion, and Post-Communion Prayer

Offertory

Daniel 9 : 17, 18, 19

Oravi Deum meum ego Daniel, dicens : Exaudi, Domine, preces servi Tui : illumina faciem Tuam super sanctuarium Tuum : et propitius intende populum istum, super quem invocatum est Nomen Tuum, Deus.

English translation

I, Daniel, prayed to my God, saying, “Hear, o Lord, the prayers of Your servant. Show Your face upon Your sanctuary, and favourably look down upon this people upon whom Your Name is invoked, o God.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Majestatem Tuam, Domine, suppliciter deprecamur : ut haec sancta, quae gerimus, et a praeritis nos delictis exuant et futuris. Per Dominum…

English translation

We implore Your majesty, o Lord, that the holy mysteries which we are celebrating may free us of past and save us from future sins. Through our Lord…

Communion

Psalm 75 : 12-13

Vovete et reddite Domino, Deo vestro, omnes, qui in circuitu ejus affertis munera : terribili, et ei qui aufert spiritum principum : terribili apud omnes reges terrae.

English translation

May you vow, and pay to the Lord your God, all you who round about Him bring presents. To Him who is terrible, even to Him who took away the spirit of princes, to the terrible with all the kings of the earth.

Post-Communion Prayer

Sanctificationibus Tuis, omnipotens Deus, et vitia nostra curentur, et remedia nobis aeterna proveniant. Per Dominum…

English translation

By Your grace, o Almighty God, let our wicked propensities be cured and everlasting remedies be forthcoming. Through our Lord…

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(Usus Antiquior) Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Memorial of St. Placidus and Companions, Martyrs (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 October 2014 : Holy Gospel

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Matthaeum – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

Matthew 22 : 34-46

In illo tempore : Accesserunt ad Jesum pharisaei : et interrogavit eum unus ex eis legis doctor, tentans eum : Magister, quod est mandatum magnum in lege? Ait illi Jesus : Diliges Dominum, Deum tuum, ex toto corde tuo et in tota anima tua et in tota mente tua. Hoc est maximum et primum mandatum.

Secundum autem simile est huic : Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum. In his duobus mandatis universa lex pendet et prophetae. Congregatis autem pharisaeis, interrogavit eos Jesus, dicens : Quid vobis videtur de Christo? Cujus filius est?

Dicunt ei : David. Ait illis : Quomodo ergo David in spiritu vocat eum Dominum, dicens : Dixit Dominus Domino meo, sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum? Si ergo David vocat eum Dominum, quomodo filius ejus est?

Et nemo poterat ei respondere verbum : neque ausus fuit quisquam ex illa die eum amplius interrogare.

English translation

At that time, the Pharisees came to Jesus, and one of them, a doctor of the Law, asked Him, tempting Him, “Master, which is the great commandment of the Law?” Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God with you whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.”

“And the second is like this : You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depended the whole Law and the prophets.” And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, “What do you think of Christ, Whose Son is He?”

They say to Him, “David’s”. He said to them, “How David then died in spirit, call Him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit on My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool?’ If David then call Him Lord, how is He His Son?”

And no man was able to answer Him a word; neither did any man, from that day forth, ask Him any more questions.

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(Usus Antiquior) Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Memorial of St. Placidus and Companions, Martyrs (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 October 2014 : Gradual and Alleluia

Psalm 32 : 12, 6 and Psalm 101 : 2

Beata gens, cujus est Dominus Deus eorum : populus, quem elegit Dominus in hereditatem sibi.

Response : Verbo Domini caeli firmati sunt : et spiritu oris ejus omnis virtus eorum.

Alleluja, alleluja.

Response : Domine, exaudi orationem meam, et clamor meus ad Te perveniat. Alleluja.

English translation

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He had chosen for His inheritance.

Response : By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the power of them by the Spirit of His mouth.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Response : O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to You. Alleluia.

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(Usus Antiquior) Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Memorial of St. Placidus and Companions, Martyrs (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 October 2014 : Epistle

Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Ephesios – Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians

Ephesians 4 : 1-6

Fratres : Obsecro vos ego vinctus in Domino, ut digne ambuletis vocatione, qua vocati estis, cum omni humilitate et mansuetudine, cum patientia, supportantes invicem in caritate, solliciti servare unitatem spiritus in vinculo pacis.

Unum corpus et unus spiritus, sicut vocati estis in una spe vocationis vestrae. Unus Dominus, una fides, unum baptisma. Unus Deus et Pater omnium, qui est super omnes et per omnia et in omnibus nobis. Qui est benedictus in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Brethren, I, a prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called. With all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity, be careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

One body and one spirit, as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all, who is blessed forever and ever. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Memorial of St. Placidus and Companions, Martyrs (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 October 2014 : Introit and Collect

Introit

Psalm 118 : 137, 124, 1

Justus es, Domine, et rectum judicium Tuum : fac cum servo Tuo secundum misericordiam Tuam.

Beati immaculati in via : qui ambulant in lege Domini.

Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

You are just, o Lord, and Your judgment is right. Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy.

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

Response : Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Collect

Da, quaesumus, Domine, populo Tuo diabolica vitare contagia : Et Te solum Deum pura mente sectari. Per Dominum…

English translation

Grant Your people, we beseech You, o Lord, to shun the defilements of the devil, and with pure hearts to follow You, the only God. Through our Lord…

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Sunday, 5 October 2014 : 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the message of the Holy Scriptures and the Gospel today is very, very clear indeed. The Lord exhorted all of us not to follow the path of those who refused to listen to Him and those who kept evil in their hearts, for example the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, all of whom who kept in their hearts jealousy and desire, that is desire for power, authority and human praise, even above their responsibility and duty to obey the Lord and follow Him.

That was very clearly demonstrated in the first reading we have heard today from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, who wrote about how God referred to Himself being a vineyard owner and master, who laboured and worked hard on a vineyard, that is the vineyard of His people. And yet, no matter what the Lord had done for them, all the love and commitment He had given to them, they produced sour fruits and were unproductive.

St. Paul in his letter to the faithful in the Roman Greek city of Philippi exhorted the people to follow the Lord faithfully, casting out any doubts and impurities that they had in their hearts, so that they might avoid any form of jealousy, hatred, and any other negativities from infecting their hearts, which is the root of all the disobedience against the Lord.

Thus, in the Gospel today, we heard how Jesus made it clear to the people, linking clearly to the message of God as prophesied by Isaiah the prophet, and as His Apostle Paul elaborated later on. Jesus mentioned in His parable when He taught the people, of the parable of the vineyard and the evil tenants. He recounted about how the vineyard owner entrusted the works of the vineyard to the tenants who repaid his kindness with vile acts and vile desire in their hearts.

Not only that they had reneged on their promise and vow, and their part of the work contract to provide the portion which had been due to the vineyard owner, but they refused to obey and budge, even to the point of torturing and refusing to listen to those whom the owner had sent to persuade them and get them to pay their due. And in the end, when the owner sent his own son, the vile tenants plotted to destroy him with the wicked aim to gain the vineyard for their own.

The parable was exceedingly clear in their meaning to us, who now know about the Lord’s revelation through the prophets and Jesus Himself, His Son, even though the people who heard it directly from Jesus at the time might not have gotten the idea through or understood the message of the parable. The parable was a clear rebuke against the actions of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, as well as a significant portion among the people of God who had adamantly refused to believe and listen in Christ the Lord.

The vineyard owner represented the Lord our God, the Father and Creator of all the universe. And thus, the vineyard itself represented the creation, the universe, our world. Meanwhile, the vineyard tenants referred to mankind, who had been entrusted with the care and stewardship of the world. Remember what God had said to our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, when He blessed them and granted them the authority and stewardship over all the earth and all that God had created.

But mankind sinned and rebelled against the will of God, and they refused to listen to Him and they also refused to follow and obey His will. The ones whom the owner had sent to remind the tenants and to get them to obey their part of the work contract were none other than the prophets, the messengers and the numerous servants which the Lord had sent to His people, including Isaiah, Elijah and many others, to lead them and to guide them into the path of righteousness.

However, as the parable told us, that the tenants refused to budge, and even persecuted and killed the servants sent by the master of the vineyard, the same had happened to the many prophets which God had sent to His people. In their continued rebelliousness and disobedience, they chose to ignore the words of God, and then they also tortured and killed many of the prophets and servants sent by God to lead them to righteousness.

Then, obviously, the son of the owner sent to the tenant referred to none other than Jesus Himself, and He was indeed speaking of what would eventually happen to Him, that is to be betrayed by His own people to whom He was sent to, punished and condemned for sins and problems that He did not commit, and were made to die a most shameful and painful death on the cross, just as the tenants plotted against the son to gain the ownership of the vineyard.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were the epitome of the actions of the evil tenants, perfectly representing what they had done as they rose up against Jesus and all that He did. They tried to disrupt His activities wherever He was, and they doubted Him in whatever He had done and said, and in all occasions, they tried to discredit Him by various methods and ways, only to be humiliated by the Lord who turned their devices against them.

They refused to listen to the Lord and follow Him because of the evil in their hearts, the pride that cover the breadth of their wisdom and discerning ability, and the desire for fame and worldly glory that they were blinded and deafened against the truth revealed by God through Jesus. Therefore, they sinned and sinned very greatly against God, and therefore deserved hellfire, for they did not just condemn themselves, but they also misled countless others into damnation with them.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on the readings of the Holy Scripture and the Gospel today, let us all do a self-introspect on our own lives, on our every deeds and actions, and in our lives as a whole, whether we have been like the evil tenants in our actions, succumbing to our own personal desire and human weaknesses, succumbing to the temptations of sin and Satan instead of listening to God as we should have.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all throw far, far away the negative parts of our heart, kill off the pride within us, and humbly allow the Lord to come into our lives and begin to transform our lives for the better. Let us all also come to realise how important it is for us all to work together as fellow children of God, to help one another that we may grow stronger in faith, hope and love.

May Almighty God, the sower of all the good in the world, help us to grow stronger in faith, in our hope, and most importantly, in our way of loving God and one another. May He grant us strength and perseverance, to lead a righteous life freed from our iniquities and unworthiness. God bless us all, always, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 5 October 2014 : 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 21 : 33-43

At that time, Jesus said, “Listen to another example : There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the winepress, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then went to a distant country.”

“When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.”

“Again the owner sent more servants, but they were treated in the same way. Finally, he sent his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they thought, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.'”

“So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?” They said to Him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due time.”

And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it.’ Therefore I say to you : the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you, and given to a people who will yield a harvest.”

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Sunday, 5 October 2014 : 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Philippians 4 : 6-9

Do not be anxious about anything. In everything resort to prayer and supplication together with thanksgiving and bring your requests before God. Then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with whatever is truthful, holy, just, pure, lovely and noble. Be mindful of whatever deserves praise and admiration. Put into practice what you have learnt from me, what I passed on to you, what you heard from me or saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.