September 27th 2020. The Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 21, 28-32

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

 

GOSPEL: Matthew 21, 28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: ‘What is your opinion? 

A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today”.

He answered, “I will not go”, but afterwards thought better of it and went.

The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir”, but did not go.

Which of the two did the father’s will?’ ‘The first’ they said.

Jesus said to them,

‘I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you.

For John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did.

Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

 

Summary . . . The parable of the two sons is directed by Jesus at the Pharisees and elders of the people. The father asks both sons to go and work in his vineyard. The first son merely simulates obedience; it is only a façade. The other son refuses to go, but later changes his mind. The theme of this Gospel is the capacity to change one’s mind and one’s behaviour. Some people are proud of the fact that they never change their minds! But if we think that we have understood something completely, then we need to be very careful. The presumption that we have understood everything renders us incapable of listening with openness to the word of God. In reality, we have an amazing God-given capacity for changing our mind, altering our behaviour, for growth and development. The son who at first refuses to go into the vineyard had made his own inclinations into an absolute. But then he overcomes his original rigidity and repents. Each one of us must engage in this battle constantly! We must allow our relationship with the Father to overcome our own habits and tendencies. To fulfil the will of the Father, we must permit our ideas to be challenged, we must be open to interior change. The publicans and prostitutes go to heaven before the Pharisees because they repent. They are aware of their own grave shortcomings. They are not content with their own “righteousness” as the Pharisees are, and thus they abandon themselves before the righteousness of God. The word “conversion” is central in the Christian life. It is not possible to be a spouse, a parent, or a friend, unless we have a constant capacity for conversion. The Greek term is metanoia which means “to go beyond one’s own way of thinking”. We need to live with constant openness. This openness saves our existence and makes it beautiful because it opens us to God.

The capacity to change behaviour, to admit error, is a wonderful thing

Rabbinic literature speaks of something that God created to "rebalance" the chaos of the world. In Hebrew, this thing is called teshuvah and means "conversion". It is the act of "going back", the ability to reverse course, retrace one's steps, change one's mind about things. Who is greater, the one who does not make mistakes, or the one who knows how to admit mistakes? Of course,  the first person doesn’t exist, but the question is useful because it underlines the importance of knowing how to change course, knowing how to consciously contradict oneself for the good. There are people who boast of having always had the same ideas, of never having changed position. Their lives are based on granite-like, immovable certainties. Often, they have difficulty with nuances and changes. Living next to them can be torture, however, because they are so fixed in their opinions and practices.

The ability to change one’s mind is a sign both of youth and of maturity. We must be open to the voice of the Lord. If we remain stuck in our own ways, listening only to our own counsel, then we are on the path of self-destruction

To be able to grow, to question oneself, to learn something new, to do things differently  - these are signs both of youth and of maturity. There are elderly people with open hearts like children, and there are young people whose ideas are stiff and old! Changing your mind should not be an occasional event, it should something that you are always ready to do. Otherwise you will not listen and never learn anything new. What is the worst threat that God makes in the scriptures? “But my people did not listen to my voice, Israel did not obey me. I abandoned him to the hardness of his heart. I let him follow his own counsel!"(Ps 81.12s). In the Our Father, we ask not to be led into temptation, not to be left to the mercy of ourselves. Saint Bernard used to say: "Whoever makes himself a teacher of himself becomes the disciple of a fool". A culture that "follows its own counsel" takes the path of self-destruction. It ends up permitting practices that injure itself, thinking that it is doing what is right.

The first of the two sons represents those who are righteous on the outside only; those who have the external appearance of virtue, but who are really living a tortuous life; a façade of righteousness while their hearts are far from being virtuous. The second son represents those who have sinned but who convert, repent, humble themselves and change their way of life.

In the parable of the two sons, one of the boys responds badly and later repents, while the other says a superficial "Yes, sir!” but does nothing. In the case of this son who does not go to work in the vineyard, the father's word has no effect on him. The son says the right thing, but he is really uttering the name of God in vain, boasting willingness to be obedient, but in reality doing what he likes, following his own counsel. The great Mounier described the typical Christian of his generation with these words (paraphrased): "Caught between the moral conviction that he expresses more or less openly and the real motivation that he conceals, partly out of spiritual conformity, partly out of impotence, he subscribes to vague compromises of life. Indeed he does not even subscribe to them; he just puts up with them. We are more willing to put up with a bad conscience than a bad reputation. Thus, having set his relations with himself obliquely, with a face that only half belongs to him, lacking in real virtue, he leads a tortuous life”. If we call ourselves Christians, we mustn’t live banal lives, with external “virtue” only, but be converted interiorly. It is better to repent, to deny ourselves, to humble ourselves, to make ourselves small, to know how to ask for forgiveness and change our attitude. As Jesus tells us, the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom before the Pharisees. For the former there is hope because they are willing to change. It is better to convert and ask for forgiveness than to remain in an illusory state of external righteousness.