Daily Catholic Lectio. Mon, 1 June 2026. Done by the Lord

Daily Catholic Lectio
Mon, 1 June 2026
Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Saint Justin Martyr, Memorial
2 Pet 1:1-7. Mk 12:1-12

Done by the Lord

Today we begin a new month. As we enter this month, let us thank God for all the blessings we received during the past month. Let us also pray that His grace and mercy may accompany us in the days ahead.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus quotes the Scripture: “The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. This was done by the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes” (cf. Ps 118:22).

The ministry, teaching, and mighty works of Jesus disturb His opponents. They are already planning to destroy Him. Jesus reveals their evil intention through the parable of the wicked tenants. They think that if they kill the son, the vineyard will become theirs. But God’s plan is different.

This parable reminds us that the vineyard always belongs to God. We are only tenants and workers in His vineyard. Our task is to make ourselves worthy to work in it and to bear good fruit. We cannot stop the growth of God’s vineyard.

The stone rejected by the builders may be thrown aside by others. It may lie in the rain and the sun. Yet that same stone becomes the cornerstone, the foundation that holds the whole building together.

God is the cornerstone of the building of our life. Our life is built on Him. When we understand this, we learn to live with responsibility, humility, and faith.

In the first reading, from the beginning of the Second Letter of Peter, we hear a beautiful ladder of Christian life. Peter says: “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.”

Faith is the foundation of all these virtues. Without faith, the building of life has no firm base. With faith, every virtue grows step by step.

Today we also remember Saint Justin, martyr. He was a philosopher who searched for truth and found it in Christ. He boldly proclaimed Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and the Logos, the Word of God. Because of his faith, he and his companions were condemned and killed by Roman authority.

The Roman Empire thought that by killing Christians it could destroy God’s work. But the vineyard continued to grow. The rejected stone became the cornerstone. What happened was done by the Lord.

Let us therefore try to be responsible and just tenants in the vineyard of the Lord. Let us adorn our life with the virtues taught by Saint Peter. Let us build our life on Christ, the cornerstone. Then our life too will become a wonder in the eyes of others, because it will be done by the Lord.

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai

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