26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
25 September 2011
First reading Ezekiel 18:25-28
The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘You object, “What the Lord does is unjust.” Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed. When the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins; he shall certainly live; he shall not die.’
Psalm 24:4-9
Second reading Philippians 2:1-11
If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That is the one thing which would make me completely happy. There must be no competition among you, no conceit; but everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, So that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead. In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus:
His state was divine,
yet he did not cling
to his equality with God
but emptied himself
to assume the condition of a slave,
and became as men are;
and being as all men are,
he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death,
death on a cross.
But God raised him high
and gave him the name
which is above all other names
so that all beings in the heavens,
on earth and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Gospel 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 went and said to the first, “My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?’ ‘The first’ they said. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.’
Reflection
By Gharri Tulabut
Last week in the Gospel, Jesus presented to us through a parable what the Kingdom of heaven is like. For ease of discussion as we go along with this article, let us call these Cases No.1 and No.2.
Case No.1: Those who said yes to Him early in their lives and were able to last until they get their heavenly rewards
Case No.2: Those who were called and agreed to work for Him late in their lives
Today in the Gospel, Jesus tells us yet another two cases.
Case No.3: Those who were called, agreed to work but either did not work or did not last long.
Case No.4: Those who at first, did not agree but later decided to do the job.
The first case was the main topic last week. We discussed that we may not be able to imagine what rewards are waiting for us, but we know that the joys of serving in the Lord’s vineyard are rewards themselves.
No.2 and No.4 are, in a way, similar. They both talk about the late bloomers in serving God. I would like to focus on these two.
But first let me tell you a story (Yes it’s about me again. Don’t worry, this is my last for the year :))
I believe I mentioned in my reflections in the previous years that we, eight siblings, were introduced to Church activities as kids. I was an altar boy from age 10 until my college years. But after college, things changed. I earned my own money. I was away from home. I lost track of my spirituality. There were times I did not go to church for a long time. I learned to smoke, and smoked a lot. And I had several sinful relationships.
But God loves me so much, He did not get tired of sending me people who may lead me back to Him. Now, I say, it is still a long journey but I am starting to go back.
Last week, I mentioned about the things I missed because I said yes late. In time, I will recover the things I missed and decades from now, I will be able to say how wonderful it is to be called and agree to serve early.
But what about those years when I was astray? How will I be able to put meaning to that dark phase in my life?
Actually, mine is another case. I was called. Said yes. I worked. Went astray. Then called again. And now I continue to work. So I say, I am actually case No.5.
Well, those who belong to the first case may have an advantage over us late bloomers and procrastinators as far as experiencing the joys of serving earlier in life is concerned. But there is something in us that case No.1’s does not have.
Though we are not proud of our previous experiences, we can always use them to relate to people who are currently in the same situations as we used to be. We can speak their language and we know how it is to be there. Therefore, we can tell them the good news that God is always calling them and waiting for them just like He did for us, no matter what their past may be. We can let them feel God’s love.
But beware not to send the wrong message that it is ok to sin since you can always come back. I have let go of the two heaviest bags in life (smoking and impure relationships), yet I am not that confident sharing them to people especially those close to me, for fear that I might send the wrong message. In fact, this is the first time I mentioned this to anybody. But I am praying to God that He will teach me the right way or send me the right people to help me make use of my past mistakes to help others either get out of them or avoid them.
But what about case No.3? What about the people who used to be No.1 but did not last?
I know a person very close to me who is on that situation. He used to be very active in Church. In fact, he introduced us to Church service. But now he is the number one critic and attacker of the Church. His case is still a heavy yoke for me. I still do not know what to do with him other than pray to God that one day he’ll come back to Him, either by using me or other people to lead him back. I want my dad to be No.5 as well.
Father, Thank You for always sending me the people who lead me back to You when I am lost. Guide me to use my previous mistakes to lead others to You as well. Amen!
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