March 21, 2025 // Friday of the Second Week of Lent
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
Reflect on the Word //
Standing in the Florida heat, my grade school class picked teams for a thrilling game of kickball basketball. As each classmate was chosen to be on one team or another, I waited, hoping that I would be selected next.
But I wasn’t picked. Not until the very end.
A feeling of rejection washed over me. It was the first time I remember being self-conscious about my size. Over the past year, I gained some weight. In part because I was an awkward pre-teenager. But also because my home life was falling apart, and I turned to food for comfort. I knew I wasn’t the fastest runner, but I used to love running around the neighborhood with my friends. It made me feel alive and free. Now, all I felt was stuck, isolated, and alone in my grief.
The game was close, and I was up to kick. As the pitcher released the ball, I ran up to it and kicked it with all of my might. And I kicked it far, so very far. I ran around the bases, back home, and scored as my team cheered for me. We ended up winning the game, and I was part of the victory. But the real victory had nothing to do with the game. It was about so much more than that.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells a parable that foretells what would inevitably happen to Him. Jesus was rejected in the most real sense of the word, even by His closest friends. But He reminds us that “[t]he stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes” (Matthew 21:42). As we pray with this passage, Jesus reminds us of His promise to take our rejection, pain, and shame, and make it foundational to our redemption. Just like Christ’s rejection resulted in resurrection, if we unite our suffering to His—meeting Him in that place of rejection—ours will too.
That day, playing kickball basketball, the Lord did this for me, and because of it I became part of His fruit-bearing vineyard. Sister, He wants this for you too. When we offer those rejected parts of our lives to Him, we will be amazed by the fruit His redemption will bear in us.
Relate to the Lord // Have you experienced the sting of rejection? Turn your heart to Jesus rejected on the Cross and offer Him your pain.
Sarah Damm is a regular contributor to the BIS blog. She is a Catholic wife and mother of six children, living in Minnesota. She spends her days running errands, helping with homework, and keeping up with laundry and the family schedule. Sarah loves her faith, coffee, and good books. You can find out more about her here. Read all of Sarah's posts here.
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