Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

From the Gospel of Matthew

 At that time, Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people : « What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first one and said to him, ‘My child, go to work in the vineyard today’. He answered,  » I don’t want to. But then, having repented, he went.  Then the father went to the second and spoke to him in the same way.
The latter said, ‘ Yes, Lord,’ and he did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will ?  » They said to him :  « The first. « Jesus said to them, « Amen, I say to you :   Publicans and harlots precede you into the kingdom of God.
For John the Baptist came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe his word ; but the tax collectors and harlots believed it. Whereas you, after you saw this, did not even later repent and believe his word.  (Mt 21, 28-32)

Go and work today in my vineyard

In this story from the Gospel of Matthew, it is about a son who says yes and does not do and another son who says no and does. « A man had two sons. And he came to the first and said to him, ‘My child, today go and work in my vineyard. And he said, ‘I don’t want to. But then, having repented, he went away » (Mt 21, 29).

Jesus, in offering us this very short story, wants to show us only someone who changes his behaviour, someone who converts. It is a very important and comforting revelation for all of us: whatever our past, whatever our previous refusals, a change is always possible.

In our world, a person is definitively classified by his past ; if he is bad, he is not given any chance to rebuild his life. God believes in our freedom ; he believes that we can convert from evil to good and from good to better.

Jesus never locks anyone up in his past. Jesus gives everyone a chance, even the most sinful. He does not freeze us, he always offers us a chance for a new beginning. Thank you Lord for the hope you put in us.

As he approached the second son, the father said the same thing to him. He answered :  « Yes, Lord. And he did not go. «   And Jesus asked us this question : « Which of the two did the Father’s will ? »  The first, it’s obvious ! We cannot answer otherwise. We are placed in front of our mirror : it is our actions that count, not our intentions ! However, let us not judge others.

This second son that Jesus speaks of is very much like us. Some people say, for example, that they are believers but not practising. Another example : we say « Yes » to God and « No » by our actions! This is not logical. A third example : in our prayer to God, we say  : « Thy kingdom come, thy will be done… ». Do our behaviours correspond to these fine statements ?

« It is not those who say, ‘Lord, Lord…who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my Father in heaven’ (Mt 7, 21). And John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, translated: ‘Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth’ (Jn 3, 18). Once again, through the contemporaries of Jesus, we are challenged : it is always God who asks us to say « Yes » to him of our active faith. And this « Yes » of our faith is often at the beginning of a conversion: « Go and work today in my vineyard ! « 

To each one of us, God said this morning : « Go and work in my vineyard ». At the same time, he tells us : « Do not do as the son who said yes and then did nothing. Rather, be like the one who said no and went to work, repenting of having said no. » He says to us at the same time: « Do not be like the son who said yes and then did nothing. But what is even better is that you say yes to me and put your yes into practice ».

All of us can become good workers in God’s vineyard. God will never say : « I’m fed up with you; I’ve had enough of you; I’ve let you down; do what you want, I don’t want to see you anymore. . (Mt 21, 28-32)

Michel Houyoux, permanent deacon

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Links to other Christian websites

◊  Catholic for life : click here to read the paper →  HOMILY FOR THE TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY

◊ The Apostolic Vicariate of northern Arabia : click here to read the paper →  Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time A

♥ Homily by the Father Cha Fr. Paul Vu : « The meaning of the Parable of the Two Sons »