Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Ezek 18,25-28; Phil 2,1-11; Mt 21,28-32
Bonus question
The question that Jesus asks the chief priests and elders of the people is a no-brainer. It is obvious that the one who did the father's will was the first son, the one who in the end worked in the vineyard despite initially refusing to go. This sets us thinking, however, about why is it what so many times we know what we must do and yet do not do it? Not only do we know what we must do but we also promise God that we will do so, and yet fail to honour our promise.When we said yes to God publicly
I can mention a few examples. Some of them we promise right here on the altar, when as parents and godparents - I am the Godfather of my brother in law - we promise to raise our children or whoever is entrusted in our care, in Catholic values and to set them a good example. At the Holy Saturday Vigil, with the candle lit in our hands, three times we vow that we will renounce all evil and three other times we promise that we will live our faith in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On their wedding day, couples make vows to God in front of everyone, not to mention us, priest and religious, who, kneeling before our Cardinal or Archbishop, here on the altar in front of everyone we solemnly give our word that we will dedicate our entire life and energies to God and to His People.
The list can go on and on, suffice to mention that we will care for the environment, that we will be attentive to the needs of our neighbours and work to build are more just society.
However, unfortunately, if we want to be really honest with ourselves, we find that we resemble both sons of the father in the parable. What might be the reasons for the younger son not honouring the word that he gave his father?
The honour of working in God's project for humanity
One of the reasons might be that he felt that working in the vineyard is a burden. Perhaps he might have thought to himself, "Why does my father want me to work in his fields? Or am I his slave? why doesn't he employ workers and leave me in peace?" The vineyard in the Bible has always represented the Kingdom of God. It is in fact the Church here on earth. Rather than seeing our work in it as a burden, we must see it as it really is, that is as a privilege that we are asked to join in this project, that God is entrusting us with this mission. We build the Kingdom of God here on earth through these little things that we do. Each one of us is called to build the kingdom according to his or her own talents, skills, life history and vocation. No employee can do this work because we have the privilege of doing so as his sons and daughters. It is only when we realise this that we can make the project ours as well and contribute to it wholeheartedly. Our actions and our lives cease to be individual projects but suddenly become another small but essential fragment in the beautiful mosaic which is the Kingdom of God here on earth.
Obeying out of fear...
There is something else that we notice about the elder son: initially he says that he will go but in fact deep in his heart, he does not have the desire to do so. Why, then, did he say that he will go and work in the vineyards? The older son does not want to lose face. He wants to give the impression to his father, to those around him and perhaps also to himself that he is obedient. But in the end, that is all it is: an impression and nothing more. It is a mask that easily wears away. He acts not out of love but our of fear of his father. He probably thinks to himself, "I'd rather so yes so that he does not get angry at me, but given the opportunity not to go, I would not go."
...and obeying out of love
St Paul in the second reading tells us what true obedience is like. It is all about being one in mind and love. To obey is to see the value of doing something and therefore of having the same frame of mind, the same feelings, the same desires. To obey is not merely to carry out the actions and simply go through the motions. To obey, St Paul says, is to have the same attitude as Jesus: who humbles himself and obeyed to the point of death. And therefore if there is a Son we must imitate, then that Son is Jesus. All the things that we mentioned at the beginning involve these two important elements: that we humble ourselves and that we die to ourselves. Nobody said that it is easy but nobody said that it is impossible either.
The bottom-line: Not taking salvation for granted
It is important to keep in mind that Jesus is not justifying evildoers. What is sinful remains sinful, wrong and unjust. However, Jesus' point is that those who are sinful in everybody's eyes have a better chance of being saved because they know that they need to be saved. On the other hand, we who like the older son have publicly vowed that we will work in God's vineyard and yet do not do so or do so only half-heartedly, we often take our salvation for granted, which is definitely not the case.
We may know many people, perhaps in our own families, who, like the younger son, openly say that they will not "work in the vineyard" but perhaps their own good actions, their honesty and their dedication might serve as an embarrassing rebuke towards us.
Her Yes was Yes throughout
Let us pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary today, for she was the one who said "Yes" to the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation. Perhaps then she said it with enthusiasm hardly knowing what the yes implied. Yet throughout her life, until she stood next to the cross of her Son, she never ceased saying "Yes" not even when it was very hard to say so. May we me inspired by her courage and determination and promptly and energetically proceed to work in the vineyard of the Lord. "Here I am Lord, I have come to do your will."
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