Twenty sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sr. Sharon McMillan, SNDdeN
Matthew 21: 28-32
Jesus asks in today’s Gospel: “What is your opinion? Which of the two did his father’s will?” To whom does Jesus direct this sharp little parable about two sons? And what will the listeners’ choice reveal about their own hearts? Matthew tells us that Jesus is again wrestling with the chief priests and elders. They have just challenged his authority for clearing the Temple area and for holding teach-ins on the Temple grounds. Jesus’ concern is to vindicate his proclamation of God’s mercy and forgiveness against his critics. He announces that “the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.” How that must have shocked his listeners, especially the religious authorities!
Jesus’ parable presents a man whose father asks him to go work in the vineyard. He rudely answers his father: “I will not.” But he later changes his mind, obeys his father, and goes to work. His brother however says, “Yes, of course I will go out and to your will!” But then he never goes. In response to experiences of God’s tenderness, some find the courage to “change their mind” and go into the vineyard of God’s beloved world; others held on even more tightly to the righteousness of their own views. They boldly proclaim that yes, they will go into the vineyard, but then refuse to go.
So Jesus asks, “Which of the two did his father’s will?” His question exposes the fact that the chief priests and elders, who should have been those most sensitive to the father’s will, actually are not concerned at all about divine authority; they are simply maneuvering to protect their own power. As Jesus suggests, had they been genuinely committed to God’s authority, they would have recognized John the Baptist. Throughout his Gospel, Matthew reveals the constant rejection of God’s purpose throughout the time of the prophets through John the Baptist to Jesus himself (and in Matthew’s own experience) to the post-resurrection mission of the Church.
The key to the parable of course is what Pope Leo calls “the daily challenge of conversion,” the courage to change one’s mind, to turn around, to be open to repent – no matter how many years it may take for this conversion to take place. After years (decades?!) of saying no, all that matters is the willingness to change one’s mind. Or, as St. Paul writes in the letter to the Philippians: “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus,” the attitude of self-emptying. A powerful prayer for this Sunday by Peter Scagnelli reads in part: “Let that same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus: may we walk the path of obedience and sacrifice, finding in the self-emptying love of the cross, the way to exaltation and glory at God’s side.” Amen!
Matthew 21: 28-32
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
“What is your opinion?
A man had two sons.
He came to the first and said,
‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’
He said in reply, ‘I will not, ‘
but afterwards changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir, ‘but did not go.
Which of the two did his father’s will?”
They answered, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you,
tax collectors and prostitutes
are entering the kingdom of God before you.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him.
Meet Sister Sharon McMillan, SNDdeN
