The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, exhort us to develop the virtues that will assist in the growth of communities in which we are tenants of the Lord.
The Reading from the Second Letter of Peter is an Exhortation to Christian Virtue and proclamation of The Power of God’s Promise.*
* [1:1] Symeon Peter: on the authorship of 2 Peter, see Introduction; on the spelling here of the Hebrew name Šim‘ôn, cf. Acts 15:14. The greeting is especially similar to those in 1 Peter and Jude. The words translated our God and savior Jesus Christ could also be rendered “our God and the savior Jesus Christ”; cf. 2 Pt 1:11; 2:20; 3:2, 18.
* [1:2] Knowledge: a key term in the letter (2 Pt 1:3, 8; 2:20; 3:18), perhaps used as a Christian emphasis against gnostic claims.
* [1:3–4] Christian life in its fullness is a gift of divine power effecting a knowledge of Christ and the bestowal of divine promises (2 Pt 3:4, 9). To share in the divine nature, escaping from a corrupt world, is a thought found elsewhere in the Bible but expressed only here in such Hellenistic terms, since it is said to be accomplished through knowledge (2 Pt 1:3); cf. 2 Pt 1:2; 2:20; but see also Jn 15:4; 17:22–23; Rom 8:14–17; Heb 3:14; 1 Jn 1:3; 3:2.
* [1:3] By his own glory and power: the most ancient papyrus and the best codex read “through glory and power.”
* [1:5–9] Note the climactic gradation of qualities (2 Pt 1:5–7), beginning with faith and leading to the fullness of Christian life, which is love; cf. Rom 5:3–4; Gal 5:6, 22 for a similar series of “virtues,” though the program and sense here are different than in Paul. The fruit of these is knowledge of Christ (2 Pt 1:8) referred to in 2 Pt 1:3; their absence is spiritual blindness (2 Pt 1:9).
* [1:10–11] Perseverance in the Christian vocation is the best preventative against losing it and the safest provision for attaining its goal, the kingdom. Kingdom of…Christ, instead of “God,” is unusual; cf. Col 1:13 and Mt 13:41, as well as the righteousness of…Christ (2 Pt 1:1). (2 Peter, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 91 is confident that God’s presence will protect the people in every dangerous situation.
* [Psalm 91] A prayer of someone who has taken refuge in the Lord, possibly within the Temple (Ps 91:1–2). The psalmist is confident that God’s presence will protect the people in every dangerous situation (Ps 91:3–13). The final verses are an oracle of salvation promising salvation to those who trust in God (Ps 91:14–16). (Psalms, PSALM 91 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of Mark presents the Parable of the Tenants.
* [12:1–12] The vineyard denotes Israel (Is 5:1–7). The tenant farmers are the religious leaders of Israel. God is the owner of the vineyard. His servants are his messengers, the prophets. The beloved son is Jesus (Mk 1:11; 9:7; Mt 3:17; 17:5; Lk 3:22; 9:35). The punishment of the tenants refers to the religious leaders, and the transfer of the vineyard to others refers to the people of the new Israel. (Mark, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)
Creighton Online Ministries was on “hold” at publication time.
Don Schwager quotes “Christ's wounds bring healing and life,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"The vineyard prefigures us, because the people of God, founded on the root of the eternal Vine, appear above the earth, bordering the lowly ground. They now grow ripe with budding flowers. They now are clothed with dense greenery and take on a gentle yoke [see Matthew 11:30] when they worship with mature branches as if with the twigs of the vine. The Father Almighty truly is the Vinedresser, and Christ is the Vine. We, not vine sprouts, are pruned by the sickle of the eternal cultivator if we do not bear fruit in Christ. [see John 15:1-2] The people of Christ then is correctly named a vineyard, either because the sign of the cross is woven on its forehead [see Ezekiel 9:4,6] or its fruit is gathered in the last season of the year. It may also be called a vineyard because there is equal measurement in the church of God for rich and poor, humble and powerful, servants and masters. There is no difference in the church, as in all the rows of the vineyard.[see Colossians 3:25] As the vine clings to trees, so the body is joined to the soul and the soul to the body. When the vine clings, it is raised up. When it is pruned, it is not diminished, but it increases. The people of God is stripped when it is bound, uplifted when it is humbled, crowned when it is cut back. The tender shoot cut from an old tree is grafted onto the progeny of another root. When the scars of the old shoot are cut away, the people of God likewise grow into the wood of the cross. It is as if they are cherished in the arms of a pious parent. The Holy Spirit comes as if cast down into the deep ditches of the earth and poured into this prison of the body. With the flow of saving water, the Holy Spirit washes away whatever is filthy and raises the posture of our members to heavenly discipline. (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 9.30.21) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on 2 Peter 1:2-7 comments that St. Peter seems to be saying two different things in our first reading. He begins by reassuring us that God’s “divine power has bestowed on us everything” we need to become holy (2 Peter 1:3). But then he exhorts us, “Make every effort to supplement your faith” with virtue, knowledge, and the fruit of the Spirit (1:5). So do we just have to rely on God’s “divine power,” or do we have to work at it by “supplementing” our faith?
Or perhaps you are trying so hard on your own that you forget that it’s God’s “divine power” that you need each day (2 Peter 1:3). If so, try to remember to ask for his help when you face a temptation or trial.
God is so good! He is eager to give us everything we need to live a holy life. But he doesn’t want us to be passive and miss out on all he has for us. It’s the start of a new month—let’s choose to cooperate with the grace and power that God so willingly pours out on us!
“Lord, your grace is always sufficient. Help me to do my part!” (Meditation on 2 Peter 1:2-7, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the authorship debates concerning 1 Peter and 2 Peter. The secretary of Peter is a likely author of 1 Peter. 2 Peter is a letter likely written in the name of Peter at a later time. It proclaims Divine power to live a life of virtue beginning with endurance and progressing to love. Seven virtues are named indicating a path of perfect fulfillment in virtue. In Mark, the parable of the tenants of the vineyard, they finally kill the son thinking, falsely, to inherit the property. They kill inside the vineyard and throw the body outside. The leaders of the Jews realize the rejection of Jesus is about them, the tenants that have not responded. The fact that Jesus actually died outside the city walls is a mistake corrected in the accounts in Matthew and Luke. In Mark, the son is killed inside the walls and thrown out indicating the parable dates to before the event of Jesus' death and proves Jesus knows He is going to die and accepts the mission from the Father.
The Parable of the Tenants is a parable told by Jesus. In Matthew 21:33-46, “And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him”.In Mark 12:1-12, “So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.”and in Luke 20:9-19. “So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”
Father Richard Rohr, OFM, affirms God’s desire for us to know and welcome all of ourselves and others. Religious people who use the scriptures to condemn or exclude others seem to have different goals and objectives from those of God or Jesus. Their arguments generally have to do with very secular concerns: power and control, fear of the other and the unknown, and idealization of a family unit that Jesus himself neither lived nor idealized. Author Jen Austin considers how God invites us to move beyond neat categories:
It is part of the human tendency to put everything into a neat little category…. However, categories also allow us to include and exclude people based on characteristics that are unfamiliar to us or that we don’t understand. Black or white, gay or straight, we spend a lot of time and waste a lot of energy creating and adhering to labels in our culture, quite often at the expense of basic human dignity and common sense…. God is bigger than all our little boxes. God’s love transcends the lines we draw on earth. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)
We are empowered by the Spirit to oppose the greed and violence of our time that is continuing to reject the message of love and growth for the Vineyard of the Lord.
References
Mark, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 1, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/12?
Meditation on 2 Peter 1:2-7. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved June 1, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/06/01/1583509/
Psalms, PSALM 91 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 1, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/91?
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Loving Beyond the Boxes. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 1, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/loving-beyond-the-boxes/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). They Will Respect My Beloved Son. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 1, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
2 Peter, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 1, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2peter/1?
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