4 Oct 26 Sunday Wk 27 OT

Is5:1-7; Phil 4:6-9; Mt 21:33-43 Rejection and Frustration do us Good

Back in 2010, I learned the craft of making rosary beads from rose petals. From then on, I have had great regard for fragrant rose bushes. Later, I learned that banana peels can do great wonders to boost rose blooms. So for a time, when some brothers saw me salvaging banana peels from the trash, they started ‘donating’ this table refuse for the rose bushes that I tried to ‘feed.’ Back then, we also donated ‘apple cores’ to our late dear Brother Mary Joseph and Br. Juan for squirrels to feast on. Yes, someone’s junk is another’s treasure, so they say.

Today’s Gospel reading tells of rejection. Rejection is an experience we feel sorry about that we try to avoid as much as we can. It gives us anxiety. It saddens and distresses us and oftentimes causes us to clam up.

Now the Lord tells us that rejection is really part not only of His predicament but of His actual mission. Jesus said, “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’?

When we experience rejection, frustration, disappointment, when we are mistreated or misjudged, let us take courage from the words of the Lord, who Himself said that we are blessed when we are insulted or persecuted because of Him.

Both readings from the Prophet Isaiah and from the Gospel according to Matthew speak about how God’s efforts for His people were rejected. But He never stops caring for his people. He never quits assuring the good of his people. He just starts all over again. He employs more deserving tenants. God just does not give up, even to the point of sending His beloved Son… and the Son’s death brought about salvation for His people.

So let us take heart when things get rough — maybe we just have to look in the opposite direction. St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians reminds us: “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus…. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” St. Padre Pio also exhorts along this thought, saying, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.”

So we can think and look forward to great things that come out of the frustration and the rejection, just like how we can look forward to great rose blooms in using banana peels and how more vegetables and flowers grow well from the kitchen refuse. It is what nature discards that makes the soil fertile. Decomposed organic debris rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, calcium, magnesium, and potassium supports and enhances new growth. Nature cycles failures into opportunities, so to speak.

The Paschal Mystery of Christ shows that there could be no Resurrection and Glorification without first enduring suffering and death. Indeed, the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. Failures and suffering also present opportunities.

So let us gather all our challenging experiences of failures and distress at the end of each day as we go to bed, or at the end of each week as we begin another new one at the Sunday Liturgy, and allow God to transform us so that good things can come out of these negative experiences. [Maybe today is a good time to go on spiritual composting.] Let us look forward to the strength of character that they enhance in us, to the better person whom God recreates in us through them. Let Christ’s Paschal Mystery truly bring us new life.