June 1, 2026 St. Justin Martyr Gospel: Mark 12:1–12
Today is Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates the Memorial of the Martyr Saint Justin today. The biography of the Saint tells us: The Saint was born in Nablus, Samaria. He once studied Platonic philosophy. At about the age of thirty-three, he converted to Christ. He is one of the most important Church Fathers of the 2nd century, known as the Patron Saint of Philosophers. He traveled around preaching true Faith, defending it from attack, and writing works such as the Apologies and the Dialogue. He was beheaded in Rome during the reign of Marcus Aurelius.
Today’s Scripture taken from the Gospel of Mark shows us the parable of the vineyard and the tenants that Jesus told to the chief priests, scribes, and elders in the Jerusalem Temple. We can see our own shadow in this parable. Because we often dispose of everything God has bestowed upon us according to whatever we think in our hearts. In our view, everything we possess now is a necessary factor for us to survive in this present life, yet we forget that everything we possess now, even we ourselves, are made by God according to His Image. From the beginning of creation, God made man according to His Image, so that man might manage all things on earth. Due to Original Sin, we are constantly attacked by the devil and his messengers; therefore, we only care about everything we possess in this world, but neglect the blessedness prepared for us from the foundation of the world, which God bestows upon us when we finish this life in this world.
Today, through this parable, Jesus invites us to rethink our relationship with God. He wants to tell us even more: Everything we possess does not belong to us but belongs to God. For He created heaven and earth, the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, all kinds of livestock, all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of reptiles crawling on the ground, and even we ourselves are made according to His Image. God gave everything He created to us, entrusting us to manage it (cf. Gen 1:26–30). Once God’s appointed time arrives, He will require us to give an account to Him. If, like those evil tenants, we refuse to hand over everything He entrusted to us to manage, and stubbornly refuse to deliver its produce, our end will be tragic. For then, God will take away everything we possess, causing us to perish together with the devil and the world belonging to him.
O God, who through the folly of the Cross wondrously taught Saint Justin the Martyr the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, grant us, through his intercession, that, having rejected deception and error, we may become steadfast in the faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
全属于祢 
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