How many times in my life did I say no to my father…? Probably once…. And the joy of learning was applied to my backside. And of course I said yes after that. But we look at the individual readings today they can each lead to confusion.
In Jerusalem there were two types of people and through it all the same two groups are around today. It isn’t always the learned who are so smart….
Highlights
When we go only through our Weekly Sunday readings we hit the high points of Jesus teachings… but this means that we miss many of the back stories and other things leading up to the story we hear. This is why we so highly encourage doing the Scripture readings which the Church offers each and every day. There are publications that give us the readings such as Word Among us or Magnificat. There are lists that one can get and read them out of your own Bible There are numerous online places, but I think the best online one is from the Bishops site, the USCCB.org. One can go visit the notes section easily link to related scripture passages etc.
By being able to look at the parables in context it helps us to bring these parables into our own lives and learn more about the times of Jesus. But, even more importantly have the ability to take those times and apply them to today. Remember, God is always here and now, so He is always willing to help you. If one needs any guidance, you can always ask one of our priests and deacons, religious Ed teachers, etc. etc. The Church has a great group of people who have gone through Scripture studies and have the formation that can give out concepts and probably the most important, resources to use.
Good boy versus bad boy
So today’s Gospel can very easily be framed into a bad boy who does good or a good boy who does bad. At a very rudimentary level this can be said. But that is not Jesus main point. We have to look around a bit and see what is happening. Jesus has just entered Jerusalem, He has cleansed the Temple and now is trying to teach the learned and those set in their ways.
The chief priests and the elders of the Temple have just asked Jesus, by what authority do you do these things Who gave you this authority to you? Regardless of the answer Jesus gave it is obvious from the way things are set up that they would not believe Him nor do they give Him anything at all. The temple officials look at Jesus with contempt and indignantcy. Jesus turns the tables on them and asks them a question of his own. Where did the baptism of John the Baptist come from Heaven or Earth? These leaders cannot seem to find an answer that will not cause them trouble. So they decline to answer to cover themselves…This sets the stage for the parable of the two sons
What are they thinking?
One son says no but then does the work asked of him. The other says yes I will do the work but in the end does nothing. There are two groups of people in Jerusalem. One the person on the street… the average Jewish person doing what they can working through life… they may not always make the best decisions, but they are trying their best to do what is right for God, family and self. Then there are the Temple leaders who teach and proclaim the ways of God, but practice the ways of humanity. What is clearly seen by the set-up passages where the leaders are trying to find the best answer to trip up and manipulate Jesus.
We have seen in the past how well trying to manipulate God and make Him give us the things we want. This concept We each can apply to ourselves somewhere over our lifetimes. And this is okay. We have asked for forgiveness and we understand that over time others and people very close to us will make similar decisions that place the self ahead of God. We pray for them and if given a chance God will forgive.
God’s will
Jesus point here is there are those who do, or at least try to do God’s will. There are those who say and teach God’s will, but in reality live and do things not in God’s will. We see this theme a number of times throughout Scripture. We can think of the Temple leader sitting in front of the Temple saying Thank You God for all the gifts I have… thankfully I am not a sinner like that man back there. All the while the man back there admits he is a sinner and repents or changes his way. Which of these was doing God’s will?
Jesus is trying to teach something very basic and it comes up quite often. When we look at ourselves and let pride and arrogance creep into our lives and we lose humility, bad things start to happen. We have all had a boss who was full of himself, perhaps treated his employees shabbily… What happens in a case like that? The employees get sick and tired of being treated poorly and either stand up to the boss, but most simply quit finding another job. But what is the loss here? All of that un tapped talent that has now walked out the door… perhaps the greatest, name the job” in the world which would have helped the company grow. The boss was too worried about how he looked and what his impact was to see how hurtful his actions actually were. Many of those workers took a long time to trust a boss again.
In the family too?
How about the family? How many do you know who are so conceited and full of pride that their proclamations of the “right” way has ripped families asunder? Not giving an inch to new thoughts ideas realities of the current day.
Take those two cases combine them together, add in a justification that I am clergy so I must be right. No one can tell me, I know how right I am. Because I am always right I can break this little rule… eventually The rules don’t apply to me… We have been reading for 20 years the effect that has.
This parable that some might say was written 2000 years ago… How can it matter to me…? Oh it matters… human nature has not changed. 5000 years ago, 2000 years ago, 100 years ago today in St. Charles in the Year of Our Lord 2020.
I Hate it when the good become bad
And it seems that it is so much worse when someone who is good turns to evil ways. We look and we see the slow decay of the mind, body and soul. They go from staying within the bounds of normalcy, honoring God, honoring other people and slowly we watch them crumble eventually into insecurity, pain and anger. This has been a reality of humanity for all time it seems. We hear about this in our first reading from Ezekiel. Someone who has done bad and fails to repent. He shall die and isn’t that what we witness as we see them slowly crumble? Their slow spiritual death that will lead them to physical death.
In all of these cases though there is great hope. That great cardinal virtue which we need in our lives. Ezekiel continues saying that God is loving but he points out quite clearly that it is man’s ways that are not fair. See man’s ways are that we take, yet give little in return. But also is said where there is repentance and turns from wickedness, there is his life restored.
Our old friend Repentance
See for the most part we think of repentance as pleading for mercy… that isn’t right… It is changing one’s heart and mind not to do that thing anymore… So our hope comes from knowing we have changed our hearts and mind to accept Jesus as the Savior and to hear his soft voice calling us to change. The parable reminds us, it is the average person sees Jesus and allows Him in… it is the stubborn and the proud who think they knew better.
All of our Hope is in Jesus Christ. All of us need to have Jesus in our hearts at the same time in our bodies as a whole. Let us all truly repent or change our lives and not hold onto those things which are causing us death… Repent and save our lives. Repent and be with your family and with great Hope and conviction, Repent and be with God!
God Bless, Be good, Play nice, Think God!
A Link to today’s readings are here https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092720.cfm