September 28, 2014: 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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.” (Matthew 21:28-32)

Reflection:

Here we go again: “God’s ways are not fair!”
Paul spells out quite clearly what we have to do to change our minds into the mind of Christ: “do nothing out of selfishness but rather humbly regard others as more important than you. (Philippians 2:3)” Really?!
Here’s a little clue on how to do this: “if there is any encouragement you can give another, give it.”

The Gospel story is quite straightforward: when asked: “which of the sons did the father’s will? “. There’s really no way around the answer. It is the one who did what he was told, even if he dragged his feet and made excuses, he eventually got himself out there and worked as his father had asked.

Jesus brings it back to our attitude about change at the very end. They complained about the way Jesus preached and they complained about the way John preached but no matter what they didn’t change their minds and believe.

Changing our minds and coming around to doing what God wants is a lifetime journey and it’s good to start now!

Action:

Talk to somebody about changing your mind and acting with obedience even when you don’t feel like it. It probably will help to talk to Jesus first.