Sunday 8 October 2023 – XXVII of Ordinary Time

+ From the Gospel according to Matthew (21, 33 – 43)

At that time, Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
«Listen to another parable: there was a man who owned land and planted a vineyard there. He surrounded it with a hedge, dug a hole for the wine press and built a tower. He rented it to some farmers and went far away.
When the time came to harvest the fruits, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect the harvest. But the farmers took the servants and beat one, killed another, stoned another. He again sent other servants, more numerous than the first, but they treated them the same way.
He finally sent them his own son saying: “They will have respect for my son!”. But the farmers, seeing his son, said to each other: “This is the heir. Upon him, let us kill him and we will have his inheritance! They caught him, chased him out of the vineyard and killed him.
So when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?
They replied to him: “Those wicked people, he will make them die miserably and will rent the vineyard to other farmers, who will deliver the fruits to him in his time.”
And Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
it has become the cornerstone;
this was done by the Lord
and it is a wonder in our eyes”?
Therefore I say to you: the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruits.”

Word of the Lord.