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."
REFLECTION
Tomorrow, PAPA will be celebrating its ninth birthday. On October 5, 2017, PAPA was established at the Redemptorist St Clement Hofbauer's Monastery in Houston Texas. This also was the Feast Day of Blessed Father Francis Xavier Seelos, C.Ss.R.
During this time has PAPA reaped any fruits? Have we been working in the vineyard? What do we have to show?
During this year's Election conference we saw the fruits of the work: PAPA For Life, promotes the respect for human life and dignity. PAPA Joe feeds those who are hungry and in need. Our media department creates videos we can stream in our YouTube channel. We have yearly seminars, retreats, conferences, weekly FACE ZBS (zoom Bible study). There are many tireless workers involved in our apostolate.
When we invite people to pray for priests, we might hear them say they privately pray or that they belong to this or that committee that prays for priests. How do you answer? What makes PAPA different from other groups that pray for priests?
A few years ago, Father Michael, our spiritual advisor, created a video explanationof the PAPA Prayer and the mission of praying for priests. You can watch these short videos HERE.
Many fruit trees take years to reach the point where they can start bearing fruit. We have been growing slowly and steadily. We can prove we are producing "good fruit" when the owner of the vineyard comes asking for His produce.
Looking forward to many more years of PAPA's apostolate of praying for the sanctity of our priests. There are many good works and good fruits to come out of it.
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