Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR A TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY - 25.9.05 Ez 18,25-28; Phil 2,1-11; Mt 21,28-32 Actions will always speak louder.... A
message for ‘leaders & elders’. As Luke has a story of ‘prodigal son & elder brother’, so
Matthew has a story of ‘two sons’. In Matthew’s story, Jesus addresses the
Head Cohanim (priests) & Elders, who had confronted him, saying: ‘what
authority do you have to cleanse the Temple’, driving out of God’s House
those who were corrupt’?. But Matthew tells the story to give a lesson to the
leaders & elders of his time & of all time: as they all claim to have
training & learning of Scripture,
they should all know better. Sadly, even today we are all like the son who says
‘yes’ & fails to carry out God’s will. More importantly, whether we
are leaders or are being led, we are invited to honour in us the ability to
thing better of it - have second thoughts - & turn - & respond
generously - & end up doing what is right before God. Yes until the day we
die, we can be bracketed together into the category, of
those who in the Gospels are called ‘sinners, prostitutes &
tax-collectors’; and those who in our modern jargon have self-righteous
attitudes. Sadly, sooner or later, we all sell ourselves short, cheat &
denigrate one another in the Church. The story of the two sons invites us to
stop & identify the “Yes & No” moments; & then see which “No
of today” might be turned into “Yes of tomorrow” & pray for each
other. At Mass today, let us present to our loving God, in all humility, the
experiences when we said “Yes” to something, with the conviction that we
were going to do absolute nothing about it; or when we imposed on others or
others imposed on us, an unbearable pressure, to agreeing to something, when we
wanted to say “No”; or when we failed to act upon something when we knew we
should. Like Jesus, we must trust in God in our conflicts!.... The
vineyard of the Lord is the Church. Matthew tells the parable of the two sons in the setting of a vineyard,
& this is highly symbolical. In the Bible as indeed in all ancient Near East
Literature vine & vineyard stand for life: rich, abundant fulfilled life.
And the reason is simple: unlike other plants, the vine grows well in the hot,
arid, semi-desert conditions, typical of that part of the world. So Matthew says
in the parable: ‘My son, go & work in the vineyard today’. In these
words, we’ve always seen God’s calling, inviting each of us to come in the
Church & work for God’s kingdom. The Latin word for Church is
“Ecclesia” which means the gathering of God’s chosen people to build up
God’s family on earth. In this setting, the response of the two sons is also
significant: it draws inspiration & encouragement & takes away any
condemnation of one against the other. Our God is infinitely rich in love, grace
& mercy. In his eyes we are all worthy children of his family, with full
rights to work in God’s beloved vineyard, which is God’s family. Sadly for
us Christians, our response to God’s loving invitation is not always sincere
or wholehearted, but that takes nothing from God’s loving disposition and from
God’s household & beloved vineyard. Fortunate are we if we look at
ourselves as co-workers, each with his/her giftedness, & specific calling,
for the up-building of God’s beloved vineyard, the Church. Fortunate are we if
in our Church groups, Orders & Ministries, we go on working together for
God’s glory. We know of course that in this vineyard, God is the undisputed
‘Land Owner & Master of the House’. In Matthew’s time as well as
today, everyone is called to work in God’s beloved vineyard: people from
different religious background, different school of spirituality, different
cultural background & giftedness each difference being honoured as a
different way of responding to God’s invitation. ______________________________________ |
