18 March 2022 – 2nd Week of Lent (Year C) [Way of the Cross & Mass]

by Fr Joachim Robert

Dear friends

In our First Reading, we hear this familiar story of Joseph the dreamer. And if you look at the stories carefully, it is a story of betrayal, of rejection, of challenges, of hatred and so many aspects of negativity. But we know that the end of the story turns out that he become righteous with God.

And as I was reading this text, dear friends, one of the thing that dawned on me was that even though Joseph faced so much of challenges and betrayal, the first few lines of today’s First Reading says:-

Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons for he was son of his old age and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him.

Here we see, dear friends, that even though Joseph faced challenges and difficulties in his life, one thing that is certain is that his father loved him.

In the same way, dear friends, many of us during this time of pandemic face so much of challenges and difficulties of life. And we try to participate in this whole journey together with Jesus but we must remember, we must remember that the Father loves us. And that loving gaze of the Father makes us realise, even in those difficult moments, the wonders He has done in our lives.

The Responsorial Psalm today so beautifully says as well that the faithfulness of God is always with Joseph, same like it is with all of us, and we need to remember the wonders the Lord has done.

In the same way, in the Gospel too, we are reminded of this tenant and the vineyard owner. We need to remember, dear friends, that the vineyard of our lives is not for us to lord it over. It belongs to God and we must remember that we are only tenants and the Lord is the owner of the vineyard.

And today we pray, dear friends, as we enter into this Season of Lent, a time of grace, a time that is given to us to configure our lives, to configure our hearts more and more into the light of what God wants of us. And we have fallen short in many, many different ways. So we must remember that all that we do belongs to God. All that we have belongs to God and He is worthy of all our praise, all our giving.

So let us pray for the grace that even though we face difficulties and challenges of life, that the Lord does not abandon us. And he says if we feel like we are the rejected ones, he says:-

It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone. This is the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful to see.

We may not be able to see the goodness that comes together in our difficulties but be rest assured that our reward is great in heaven.

So let us pray, dear friends, that we may enter into this journey of Lent with gratefulness in our hearts, with thanksgiving and remembering the wonders the Lord has done for us, and will continue to do for us in every day of our lives.

Click below to listen to homily and watch video:-

Click to live-stream Mass on 11 March 2022