TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
1 OCTOBER 2023
To
understand today’s parable, it is important to put it into context. Jesus has just entered the Temple in his last
week before he will be executed at the order of the religious leaders. They demand
to know on whose authority Jesus is teaching.
Instead of responding, Jesus asks them a question. “Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?” They discussed this question among themselves
and realized its implications. If they
say “of heavenly origin,” Jesus will want to know why they did not believe
him. If they say “Of human origin,” they
will fear the crowds who regarded John as a prophet.”
When they say that they do not
know, Jesus answers their question with this parable. Tax collectors and prostitutes did shameful
things. But they listened to John the
Baptist and changed their ways. With
true repentance, they did the Father’s will and accepted the Baptist’s word
that Jesus is the long-promised Messiah.
They are like the first son. In
refusing to obey his father, he acts very shamefully in an honor and shame
society. But he changes his mind, obeys
his father’s will, and works in the vineyard.
That is exactly what the tax collectors and prostitutes do when they
recognize the truth about Jesus Christ.
The
religious leaders act honorably in public.
They lead the worship in the Temple and offer sacrifice and retain their
positions as respected leaders. They are
like the second son. He honors the
father with his words but refuses to work in the vineyard. They refuse to listen to John the Baptist and
do not follow the will of the Father in recognizing the truth about Jesus
Christ. Instead, they condemn him to a
cruel, public, and horrible death.
Jesus speaks
this parable to each one of us.
Sometimes, we are like the first son.
Maybe we’ve had a bad day, or maybe we are busy, or maybe we are
tired. Someone has asked us to do a
favor. And we have turned them
down. Then, we might realize that we are
not as busy as we had thought. Or maybe
we feel bad about a look of disappointment on the person’s face. Or maybe we felt guilty. Whatever is the case, we change our minds and
hearts and did what we were asked to do.
At other
times, we are like the second son. We
faithfully come to Mass every Sunday and are recognized as practicing
Catholics. But we can easily give lip
service to the demands Jesus makes of us in the Gospel. When we are sent from Mass to act as members
of the Body of Christ, we might refuse to work on forgiving injuries. Or we make excuses for entering into humble
service. On this Respect Life Sunday, we may speak eloquently about being
pro-life. But, we ignore the invitations
in the bulletin and do nothing to be part of our parish respect life
ministry. Or, we simply detach ourselves
from the Mystery we have just celebrated.
In failing to do the Father’s will, it is easy to look down on the “tax
collectors and prostitutes” of our day – those people who do not do profess the
values we extol with our lips.
Whether we
find ourselves in the position of the first or second son, the Lord Jesus calls
us to repentance, to a complete change of heart. That is what Saint Paul recommends to the
Church at Philippi and to us. We must
assume the same humility that we see in Jesus Christ, who did not deem equality
with God something to be grasped (as Adam and Eve had done). Rather, he humbled himself, taking on the
form of a slave, coming in human likeness, humbling himself to the point of
death, even death on a cross. If we can
imitate his total self-giving and obedience to the Father, we can share in the
exaltation bestowed on Jesus by the Father.
We can offer more than lip service to the Father’s will. We can put words into action.
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