Presence

When I come into Your presence, O Lord,
I know I am in the presence of my Creator.
You created me out of love.
You even know the number of hairs on my head.
Your presence, O Lord, is the greatest gift of all.

Freedom

Heavenly Father, make me conscious of whatever burden I am carrying today and give me the grace to place it at the foot of Your Cross and so enter freely into this time of prayer.

Consciousness

Holy Spirit, fall afresh on me during this time of prayer. Through You, may I come to know that I am a beloved child of God.

The Word of God

¹Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went away. ²When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. ³But they seized him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. ⁵Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. ⁶He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;^,

¹¹this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?”

¹²When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.

Inspiration

Jesus is the cornerstone, prophesied by Isaiah, but the builders have rejected him. Have I ever felt rejected, either for my faith or for any other issue? If so, let me share with you, Lord, what that rebuff felt like.

There are many layers of meaning in the parables of Jesus. What is your response to the story of the killings of the slave and the owner’s son?  What are your thoughts about the owner destroying the tenants? Talk to God about what comes up for you.

Conversation

The gift of speech is a wonderful gift.
May I use this gift with kindness.
May I be slow to utter harsh words,
hurtful words, and words spoken in anger.

Conclusion

I thank God for these few moments we have spent alone together and for any insights I may have been given concerning the text.

Amen