Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time  

Matthew 21:28-32

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini

Neither of the sons has an inclination to work, but one son overcomes his own inclinations

Jesus is in Jerusalem and has just caused havoc in the Temple, overturning the tables of the money-changers, chasing everyone out, and bringing to a complete halt the market that was in progress. The chief priests and the scribes want to know by whose authority he dares to do such outrageous things. Jesus is struck by the hypocrisy and intransigence of their attitude and he confronts them with the following parable.

            A man has two sons, and he approaches both of them with the same request – to go and work in his vineyard. The first says that he will not go, but he later repents and goes. The second son, instead, says he will go, but in fact doesn't. The issue to focus on here is that the two sons are actually of the same heart. Neither of them has any inclination to go and work in the vineyard. The first one admits openly that he is not inclined, whilst the second one shows us by his actions that he doesn't want to go. The difference between the two sons is that one of them obeys his own inclinations but the other does not.

Modern culture makes feeling an absolute, but most people have to go against what they feel in order to achieve anything

In today's world, that which we wish to do has become an absolute. The notion of the freedom to choose, of following one's desires, is placed at the heart of modern culture. But if we examine our daily lives closely, it simply isn't true that we follow our own inclinations all the time. If we were to do only what we wanted to do, then we wouldn't get very far in life. If people studied only when they felt like it, then who would ever complete his studies? If parents looked after their children only when it suited them, then how many children would be raised properly? If people cared for each other only when the mood was right, then who would tend to the sick? Our culture goes on about the absolute law of doing what we feel like, but in order to work, in order to achieve anything, we constantly go against our will.  In order to earn the acceptance of others, we have to do things that we are not inclined to do. In order to make a living, to have self-esteem, to buy a car, to build a house - time and time again we go against our will. And we manage to go against our will because we wish to achieve a specific goal that we have in mind.  

Spiritual growth requires going against my own inclinations and doing the will of God

But in the spiritual life, there is an inclination to think that we can just do whatever we feel like! If I only to do what I feel like, however, I will not be able to move one inch from where I am now. Unless I become of the same mind as the son who repents, the son who converts, who changes direction, who goes against what he feels like, who refuses to absolutize his own will; then I will remain a child for the rest of my life. I have to learn not to absolutize my desires, my instincts, that which I feel like doing. 

            There are high-priests of instinct in our culture, prophets of absolute spontaneity, of doing only what one feels like doing. The consequences of this approach are zero achievement, zero dependability, complete inconsistency. If a woman found out that the man she was about to marry was a complete slave of his own inclinations, who was incapable of going against what he felt like doing, then she would be foolish to marry him. Life with such a man would be like living with a narcissistic child.

The real point of this parable is obedience to God's will, not sincerity of  heart

So this parable is not so extraordinary after all, because the struggle to conquer one's inclinations is a common feature of daily life. What diverts attention from the principal point of the parable is the fact that we can sometimes focus on the insincerity of the second son's reply. The second son says yes, not because he really wants to work in the vineyard, but because he wants to keep his father happy. "If it keeps you happy for me to say yes, then I'll say yes". Today with the great emphasis we put on psychology, immense prominence is given to sincerity with oneself and with others. It is true that the second son needs to work on his sincerity. He is unable to confront his father with the truth about what he intends doing or not doing. He plays the obedient son. But whilst sincerity is a great value, there can be no doubt that the moral of this passage is NOT about being sincere about one's inner feelings. The real point of this parable is: "Let's see what these sons did concretely, regardless of the sincerity or insincerity of what they may have said". That this is the main point is revealed by the fact that at the end of the parable Jesus asks "Which of the two did his father's will?"

That God may not do our will, but that we may do His

In the end, people are judged by their deeds.     Anyone can profess great love for your neighbour, but let's see how they actually behave towards their neighbour. One can be a great proclaimer of the word of God but a very poor practitioner of the same. What really counts is to be obedient to God's word. What really changes our lives is not to hear a brilliant homily, to have a wonderful religious experience and to feel a great sense of inspiration. What counts is to be obedient to God. Obedience to the will of God always involves going against my own will. Jesus gave us an example in Gethsemane when he said "Not my will, but yours be done!"  The trauma of doing God's will has already been endured by the Son of God in his assumption of our flesh.

            Do we want to achieve the same thing? If we wish to have the gift of new life then we must leave our own lives behind. There is simply no other way. My will and my plans must not be absolutes. God is not a personal chaplain who comes whenever we summon him to bless our projects. Once I heard a holy monk say "You come here to church to ask God to support what you want to achieve. Try instead to ask God to help you to do what He wants!" What I want to achieve, after all, is very small, very parochial. Oh, that God may not do what I want! That God may do in my life what He wants! That God may not allow me to languish in the mediocrity of my own desires! That he may teach me to change my mind!

            The whole point of this parable is to teach us to change, to teach us not to remain immobile in the pursuit of our own inclinations. Unless one undergoes this trauma of obedience to God - which involves disobedience to one's self - unless one renounces oneself, unless one accepts concretely this act, this exercise, this obedience that God asks of him, then one will never know if God can save him or not; one will never know what it is like to be with God, to do things with him, to work in his vineyard.