The beginning verse in today’s Gospel meets us with a surprising question, “What is your opinion?” The question is not so much to obtain information and find out how people feel about it, but rather to invite His listeners to go deeper in their relationship with the Lord. To illustrate the point, Jesus tells them the parable about two sons whose father operates a vineyard. He tells to the first son, “Go and work in the vineyard today,” but the son says “No.” Later, however, he changes his mind and goes. The second son responds to his father’s command saying respectfully, “I will go sir,” but never acts on that promise.
Jesus implies the first son’s attitude as a way to understand all types of sinners, who even though for lengthy periods of time said “No!” to God’s commandments, eventually they have a change of heart, some type of conversion experience and now are working in the Lord’s vineyard, building up and entering into His Kingdom. The attitude of the second son reflects the position of those who so many times publicly prayed in the temple chanting their loud “Amen!” but who by their actions, were not following through on their promises and commitments.
It is obvious that the Lord wants all of us today to reflect on not only what we say to God, but especially how we follow through on our commitments. Life takes us on different journeys, leading us into different placesthat often contradicts our dignity, makes us encounter different experiences that make us feel ashamed, and as a result we respond to life’s journey in the way we do. It seems that the influence of the society with all its attractions, challenges our commitment and once proclaimed obedience to God. On our way to the vineyard, we lose our sense of importance, of integrity, honesty and truthfulness. We begin to justify our actions and our dependence upon God, and many begin to wonder around looking to satisfy our quest for God in all the wrong places.
It seems that today people want faith but not the Church, the questions but not the answers, the religion but away from organized church, and the truth but not obedience. Our culture divorced an understanding of private and social morality within the same person. We search for a new freedom and self-fulfillment without dogma or doctrine that everyone must believe, no institution to which everyone must be committed, no leader whom all must follow nor govern the whole movement. We create a new set of rules and doctrines where subjective way of life brings everybody together, where riots are considered a “peaceful expression of disagreement”, abortion a personal choice of killing an innocent baby, and acts of mercy in euthanizing those who may not contribute enough for the common good. The new notion of freedom easily turns into a sophisticated form of selfishness as the model of modern life.
So, today the Lord invites us to pause for a moment as we reflect upon His teaching and to ask ourselves how faithful we have been following up on our commitments and promises. If we have not been following through, if we have been saying “No” to the Lord with our actions despite the “Yes” on our lips, then the Lord wants us to learn from the example of His own Son Jesus Christ once again. No matter where we are with our responses to God today, let us embrace the example that Jesus shows us— of a Son who says “Yes” to the Father and follows through on it always. Jesus, the most faithful Son, never had to change His mind, because in His mind He always seeks what the Father wants. The more we think with the mind of Christ, and follow through with His grace, the more we will please the Father and in the process become the best version of ourselves.
I wish you a blessed week! Stay healthy and be safe!