'The stone that the builders rejected . . .' 27th Sunday Year A

Jordan, in wheelchair, and Lala

Readings  (New American Bible: Philippines and USA)

Gospel Matthew 21:33-43 (NAB)

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.
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.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
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.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
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."
Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?

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."

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A little googling will show that in the USA in 90 percent of cases where prenatal testing shows that a child has Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) the mother chooses to have an abortion. Lala, who celebrated her 'official birthday' on 27 September, the feast of St Vincent de Paul, when she turned 32, lives in the L'Arche Community in Cainta, Rizal, part of the Metro Manila sprawl. You can read her story here.

Lala was left in a garbage pail after birth. She is a ray of sunshine to those blessed enough to know her. I am one of those such blessed. Much more so is Jordan, who also lives in the L'Arche community. He was born with multiple disabilities and has been in L'Arche since he was a small child.

According to the received 'wisdom' of many Lala and Jordan should never have been born.

Jesus tells us in the parable how the the tenants in the vineyard killed not only the servants of the owner, who provided them with a livelihood, but his own son, clearly a reference to Jesus himself, the Son of God the Father, God become Man.
So many today, for different reasons, destroy the lives of humans at their beginning. About 50,000,000 unborn babies have been legally killed in the USA since the infamous Roe vs Wade decision of the Supreme Court in 1973. Countless others have been destroyed because of the one-child policy of the People's Republic of China. Parts of China and India have an abnormally low percentage of women because of abortion.
This is one example of the rejection of God's love.

Jesus quotes from Psalm 118. Surely when we look at Jordan and Lala we can say 'By the Lord has this been done and it is wonderful in our eyes'.

The Madonna of the Grapes, Pierre Mignard, 1640s