Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Louis de Montfort; there is, of course, plenty to say about him, but especially in the context of the today’s readings, I want to focus on just one incident in his life, one particular grace that he displayed: his complete and utter abandonment and conformity to God’s will. 

Fr. Nathaniel Dreyer, IVE
Friday of the Second Week of Lent / St. Patrick

In today’s Gospel, we heard what’s called the “Parable of the Tenants.” There’s a lot we could say about the Gospel, but what should call our attention is how God prepares absolutely everything for the tenants: in particular, the tower was used, not only as a security lookout, but also a place for the workers to rest. This vineyard is entrusted to the tenants to work and produce fruits, and notice how the landowner trusts those tenants to get the job done. He doesn’t keep watch over them, or send spies: he trusts them entirely to do what they should be doing, and to cooperate with him in the task of making the land produce fruits.[1]
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The same is requested of us: each one of us has a certain task in the Lord’s vineyard. As we celebrate the feast of Saint Patrick today, we can reflect on the beautiful words of Pope Saint John Paul the Great when he visited Ireland in 1979. Speaking to seminarians, he said, ​

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, which isn’t simply a celebration of a physical object or of just Saint Peter; it commemorates that “privileged sign of God’s love,” the papacy, and the spiritual authority entrusted to that supreme shepherd to guide the entire people of God.[1] To be united with Peter and His successors is to be united with Christ, and perhaps we have no better example of what this belief might cost than the life of His Eminence Ignatius Cardinal Kung Pinmei, Bishop of Shanghai.