Friday of the Second Week of Lent, March 21, 2025

Friday of the Second Week of Lent, March 21, 2025

Today’s Readings, from the USCCB:

Reading 1

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

Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long tunic. When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.

One day, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem, Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem. Get ready; I will send you to them."

So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan. They noticed him from a distance, and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another: "Here comes that master dreamer! Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We shall then see what comes of his dreams."

When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying, "We must not take his life. Instead of shedding blood," he continued, "just throw him into that cistern there in the desert; but do not kill him outright." His purpose was to rescue him from their hands nd return him to his father. So when Joseph came up to them, they stripped him of the long tunic he had on; then they took him and threw him into the cistern, which was empty and dry.

They then sat down to their meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, balm and resin to be taken down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers: "What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood? Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers agreed. They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21

R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

When the LORD called down a famine on the land and ruined the crop that sustained them, He sent a man before them, Joseph, sold as a slave.

R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

They had weighed him down with fetters, and he was bound with chains, Till his prediction came to pass and the word of the LORD proved him true.

R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

The king sent and released him, the ruler of the peoples set him free. He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions.

R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

Verse Before the Gospel

John 3:16

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son; so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.

Gospel

Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

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." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.

 

Rejected, Misunderstood, and Still Chosen

"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." – Matthew 21:42

There’s something hauntingly familiar in today’s readings.

Joseph – stripped, thrown into a dry cistern, betrayed by his own brothers.

Jesus – rejected by the very people He came to save, seized, dragged away, beaten.

And beneath both stories, a chilling theme: rejection from those who should have loved you most.

It doesn’t take much effort for me to put myself in their shoes.

Rejection Close to Home

The deepest cuts never come from strangers.

They come from friends who once toasted with you and now speak about you behind your back.

They come from family members who twist stories and make you the villain without ever asking your side.

They come from people who were supposed to be your support system—but instead became a source of silent exile.

I’ve felt that sting.

And like Joseph sitting in that empty, dry cistern, there have been days when I’ve felt forgotten – cast aside by the very people I thought would always see the best in me.

What makes that pain worse is when it’s followed by silence.

When the prayers I offer in the middle of that ache seem to bounce off the walls.

When God doesn’t swoop in to fix it, doesn’t send a miracle to make it right, doesn’t even whisper back reassurance.

I know what it’s like to cry out in a season of famine – emotionally, spiritually – and wonder if the God I was taught to trust is still there.

I know what it’s like to think, Maybe I’m not part of the plan after all. Maybe I was never the cornerstone. Maybe I’m the one they left behind.

Suffering with Purpose?

The psalm today says:

"He sent a man before them, Joseph, sold as a slave…till his prediction came to pass and the word of the Lord proved him true."

That line both comforts and challenges me.

Because it means Joseph’s suffering wasn’t pointless. It was preparation.

But what if I don’t want my pain to have to “prove” anything?

What if I just want relief?

What if I don’t want to be misunderstood or misjudged one more time?

Still…I wonder.

What if God is working through all of this in ways I can’t see?

What if the people who turned on me, who said cruel things, who didn’t bother to ask the truth – what if their rejection is not the end of the story?

What if God is still writing something through the very places where I feel most discarded?

The Dry Cisterns of My Life

When I think about those low moments – losing my mother, then my father just seventy days later…watching my son go through heartbreak after heartbreak, praying for something to finally go his way…

It felt like God had walked away.

It still feels like that sometimes.

Like the dry cistern is still where I live.

Like my faith is an echo chamber, bouncing prayers into a void.

But then Jesus says:

"The Kingdom of God will be taken away…and given to a people who will produce its fruit."

And I ask myself:
Am I producing anything at all? Or am I just surviving?

Have I let the pain define me instead of refine me?

Have I spent so long feeling excluded from the covenant that I’ve stopped living like I belong in it?

Maybe I’m the Stone

Maybe I am the stone the builders rejected.

Maybe I’ve spent too long trying to fit into places I was never meant to be accepted.

Maybe God is asking me not to fix everything, not to force reconciliation or understanding, but to become something solid – something stronger despite the rejection.

Like Joseph.

Like Jesus.

Maybe I’m still part of the plan.

Even if I can’t see it.

Even if it hurts.

Even if I feel like I’ve been tossed aside by the very people who should have known me best.

A Final Thought

Rejection is never the end of the story with God.

Joseph rose.

Jesus rose.

And maybe, somehow, so will I.

Not because I’ve figured it all out.

Not because the wounds have healed.

But because God does not discard the stones the world rejects.

He builds with them.

And I’m still trying to believe – even in the silence – that He’s building something in me, too.