Let Go & Let God

26th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year A

Four weeks ago, on the 22nd Sunday of the year, we heard Jesus say to Peter: Get behind me, Satan … because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s!

On the 23rd Sunday Jesus shows us how to treat those who do the wrong thing by us in a way that would be according to God’s way of thinking.

On the 24th Sunday we celebrated the feast of the Triumph of the Cross; madness according to the world's way of thinking but for us who believe, the sublime wisdom of God.

Last week, the 25th Sunday, Isaiah cautioned us: Let the wicked man abandon his way, the evil man his thoughts. … for my thoughts are not your thoughts …. .

Then the Gospel showed us a God who is generous in a way that we, according to our human way of thinking, would think unfair. Once again we see that God’s thoughts are high above our thoughts.

Which brings us to the First Reading today, the 26th Sunday, in which God seems to be defending himself from our human way of thinking which calls him unjust.

Is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust?

Imagine us accusing God of injustice!

In the Second Reading St Paul is pleading with the Philippians: ... be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That is the one thing that would make me completely happy.

A common mind? Which mind?

In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus...

Well, by now I think you are beginning to see what I’m getting at. The mind of God is indeed higher above us than the heavens. Our ways of thinking are not God’s ways of thinking and the whole of the struggle of Christian discipleship could be summed up as the struggle to begin thinking like God, as St Paul puts it: ...to put on the mind of Christ.

Well, our Gospel today shows us a young man caught in the very act of doing just this. He was asked by his father to spend the day working in the vineyard. His father might just as well have asked him to wash the car, clean up his room, take out the garbage or turn off the television.

The young man was very human but notice he was also very honest. He didn’t like to pretend. He said straight out to his father, 'No! I won’t! I am not going to work in the vineyard. It’s not my turn to wash the car. I didn’t mess up the bedroom. I’ll take out the garbage later, if I don’t forget … and, anyway, I just want to watch this television programme first.'

How human this way of thinking is!

Well, the dad in our Gospel just leaves him to work it out and the young man starts thinking. We are not told what his thought processes were, just that he thought better of it.

He did what Isaiah advised: Let the wicked man abandon his way, the evil man his thoughts. And so he went off to work in the vineyard.

The prostitutes and the tax collectors did exactly the same thing. They at first said no to God in their lives and lived far away from him. But then, at the sound of Jesus’ words they thought better of it and repented. They sought forgiveness and became disciples of the Lord.

There’s no need to say too much about the other son, or about the chief priests and elders. We are simply told that they refused to think better of it. How sad!

Let me repeat, isn’t our whole Christian life a process of learning to think better of it? … of learning to put on the mind of Christ?

Are you in that process?

Watchmen for Israel

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

Fraternal correction, assertiveness and speaking the truth in charity are some of the phrases that lead us into the message of this Sunday. The readings focus on the painful responsibility of fraternal correction which entails many qualities: assertiveness, courage, compassion, patience, gentleness, humility, sincerity and prudence, to names just a few. The readings also remind us that we will be held accountable for our silence and failure to speak up. There are many situations in our own homes when at times we are hesitant to speak up. In the first reading, the Lord sends his messenger as “watchman for the house of Israel” as a spokesperson of the Lord, to warn God’s people. The messenger of the Lord is sent to persuade the wicked from wrongdoing. If not, the Lord will hold the messenger responsible. The underlying message is that we are all responsible for one another in helping each other to remain faithful to the Lord. Here the Lord addresses all of us, urging us to listen to his voice. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” This call to faithfulness is also a call to the commandment of love that undergirds all of God’s Commandments. The Commandment of love is also the spirit that leads us to correct others when they stray away. Calling others to account when they do wrong or persist in wrongdoing is not easy. We ourselves must be living faithfully before we can call others to change their lives. We must be a living example. The bottom line in the message is that we cannot privatize religion, because Christian life is not a private affair between God and me. Such practice of Christian life would lead to a culture of silence before the wrong doing of our brothers and sisters. We are reminded of the obligation to speak up prophetically, to be assertive with humility and the compassion of Christ.

In the Gospel of this Sunday, Jesus challenges us to point out the faults of others privately first, but publicly if necessary. Paul in the Second reminds us that we correct others out of love and concern for their spiritual wellbeing. Elsewhere Paul urges us to “Be kind and tender to one another. Forgive each other, just as God forgave you because of what Christ has done" (Ephesians 4:32). It is then that we are better able to "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). If we are sincere in our relationship with Christ, if we are intimately related to Christ and the Father in the Spirit, the zeal to invite others to such a relationship will drive us to speak up before others, inviting them to God’s loving mercy and forgiveness. In the words of St. Paul, true Christian love will enable us to help each other along the way to perfection without an attitude of superiority. Everyone in the Christian community, including those in leadership must be willing to give and to receive loving admonition from others. The message of this Sunday may be summed up in three points: 1) Every one of us is called to a life of witness before others; 2) Such life involves personal conversion to Christ and a deeper relationship with God; 3) If we are intimately related to Christ, it is far much easier to invite others to change their way of life. We pray that God’s grace may strengthen our Christian witness; to be God’s instruments with the courage to speak the truth in love.