Reading
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."
Reflection
Praised be Jesus Christ!
In life, we are faced with many choices, both large and small. We are faced with what we are going to eat to whether or not to bring a jacket with us when we start our day. We also have larger choices such as whether or not to take a certain job or vocational choices.
In today's Gospel, Jesus is reminding us of our most important choice, and that is our discipleship. In essence, both sons in the Gospel are "disciples." One of the sons proclaimed obedience, but did not do as he promised. The other showed resistantance, but ultimately obeyed.
Most likely, we have lived both realities in our lives: unkept promises and changes of heart. Sometimes, we say yes to God, but fall short of our call to holiness. Other times, we say no to God's will, but repent of our decision and cooperate with His plan.
Perhaps we are faced with such decisions right now in our own life. We may be making heroic sacrifices to follow the Lord's path. Or, we may be echoing the words of the First Reading, "The Lord's way is not fair!" In either case, our daily prayer is to know God's Will for us and to have the docility and courage ultimately to carry it out.
As always, know of my prayers before Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
+ Bishop Schlert
Copy Permalink
