October 01, 2023; 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Readings: Ezekiel 18:25-28; Philippians 2:1-11; Matthew 21:28-32

Let us Learn to Change our Minds!

1.    Today’s Gospel teaches us to repent and follow God’s ways. The first son changed his mind and obeyed his father’s will, but the second did not. There is often a vast difference between a man’s profession and his actions. Talk is quite different than walking. It is not the one who talked the best who made the loudest profession. God’s Word is fulfilled in our doing of it, not talking about it. The first son repented and obeyed the father’s command. Repentance always precedes the doing of the will of God. If the bold and stubborn rebel in the first son could change his mind and obey the father, do not give up on anyone. Repentance is all about changing one’s mind and doing what is right. 

2.    The second son quickly said ‘yes’ but did not follow through. Most of the time, we too are like that; they say talk is cheap; we sometimes promise heaven and earth but do not have the willpower to see it through. Yet what we do is more important than what we say we will do. Our Word can never be a substitute for performance. The most significant problem with Christianity is the lapsed lives of so many Christians. At Baptism, they all said, ‘yes,’ they then forgot what they promised. Hearing the Word of God is vital because faith comes through hearing (Romans 10:17). We should not merely listen to the Word. The hearing must be accompanied by action. Hearing God’s Word without doing what he commands leads to self-deception. Therefore, the second reading urges us to pursue righteousness. Listen again to St. Paul: “If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by agreeing, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or vainglory; rather humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for those own interests, but also those of others.”

3.    Let us heed this warning from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name? Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.” (Mt. 7:21-23). May this never be said of us! Amen.

                     Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP