Happy Sunday!
DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Ezekiel 18,25-28; Philippians 2,1-11; Matthew 21,28-32: 26th Sunday of the Year, 27th September 2020)
On this Sunday, the liturgy offers us a Gospel passage that shows the inconsistency that sometimes exists in our attitudes. This comes out in Jesus’ address to the priests and elders of the people. This Gospel theme is anticipated by the first reading, taken from the prophet Ezekiel. The second reading is a magnificent teaching on Christ and the Christian spirit.
A person, by changing his attitude can become inconsistent/incoherent. This can happen in two directions: from good to bad one or vice-versa. Ezekiel speaks of a just person who turns away from justice, and then about an unjust one who desists from injustice. A person’s last attitude, determines what he deserves: Either reward or punishment. If the just strays from justice to commit iniquity, he dies for the iniquity he has committed. On the other hand, if the unjust abandons his way of injustice and acts with justice and righteousness, he makes himself live.
In the Gospel, Jesus holds the same opinion, but in a slightly different way. He narrates a story of a man who has two children. Addressing the first, he says: Son, go today to work in the vineyard. And the son replies immediately declaring his availability: Yes, sir. But these are only words, which are not followed by corresponding action: the child does not actually go to work. The other son behaves directly opposite. When his father tells him: Son, go today to work in the vineyard, he replies: I don't want to. But then he repents and goes to work. At this point, Jesus asks a question to the princes, priests and elders of the people: Which of the two did the will of the father? They answer: The last. The answer is correct: The son who at first refused, but then repented and really did what the father wanted fulfilled the will of the father. Jesus then severely rebuked his listeners: Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you. Tax collectors and prostitutes are people whose professions are sinful and, a consequently, do not act according to God's will; they correspond to the second son, who says to his father: I don't want to go to work. Though, their profession was a habitual occasion of sin, the tax collectors and prostitutes repented, moved by John the Baptist’s preaching. Jesus says: John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness but you did not believe in him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did. Tax collectors and prostitutes did penance, they changed their lives but the princes of the priests and the elders of the people, who profess generous adherence to the will of God, who are respectable people, want to be honoured, and respected, in reality, were not at all docile to the will of God. The high priests and the elders of the people did not change anything in their behaviour, they continued to live in their hypocrisy. Their external behaviour, in fact, seems impeccable, but in reality it is vitiated by thoughts of vainglory and selfishness. These words of Jesus constitute a teaching for us and challenge us to make an examination of conscience. We Christians make a profession of following Jesus, we take pride that we are practicing Christians/Catholics and externally show all signs of docility to God. But is this docility actually real, profound, or is it only superficial, contradicted by so many actions that are not carried out according to God's will? We must recognize (and the Church invites us to do so at the beginning of every Eucharistic celebration) that we are sinners and, therefore ask, the Lord for forgiveness for our sins. We also need to beg for the graces that will enable us be more docile in living the Christian life in coherence with the Christian faith we profess.
The second reading shows us what our Christian behaviour should be. Paul tells the Philippians: Have the same sentiments within yourselves as they were in Christ Jesus! What feelings are we talking about? Are the sentiments of total generosity, of acceptance or even humiliations in obedience to God's will: [Christ Jesus], despite being of divine nature, does not consider his equality with God a jealous treasure… Jesus could have claimed a life of honour, and glory, with all the privileges that come to him from his divine sonship, instead he stripped himself, he renounced all his privileges, out of solidarity with us sinners. What is more, he assumed the condition of a slave, that is, the condition of sinful humanity, and became similar to us sinful men. And being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. This is the orientation of Jesus’ life, which must also be ours. It is a very demanding orientation, but one which constitute the authentic way of love. Our Christian vocation, in fact, is a vocation to generous love, a docile love to the will of God, to love in solidarity with people who suffer. We must make ourselves obedient to God until death, in the sense of accepting all the sacrifices that are necessary to live, authentically, and grow in love. Then we will deserve the glory of God, which is the glory of loving. God is love, and his glory consists, precisely, in loving. Jesus obtained this glory par excellence: God exalted him and gave him the name that is above any other name that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Thus Jesus acquired by this kenosis (divesting of his divine privilege and becoming even lower than the normal human being) the title Kyrios (Lord), a title usually predicated of God. At the beginning of this passage, Paul revealed to us the direction in which we must go: That of charity, communion of spirit, sentiments of love and compassion. We must renounce our selfishness and pride, to live fully in charity, and in mutual union. Do nothing out of spirit of rivalry or vainglory, but each of you, with all humility, consider the others superior to himself. As Christians, we must follow these guidelines given by Paul. We must then examine ourselves, to see if we do anything, out of the spirit of rivalry or out of vainglory, in pursuit of honour and praise. We must examine ourselves, to see if we consider others to be superior to us, and better than us. Each should not seek his own interest, but rather that of the other. Christian behaviour must be marked by a generous, disinterested charity. This seems to us an ideal too high, which we cannot reach with our human forces. But Jesus, with his cross and resurrection, has merited all the graces we need that will enable us live according to this ideal. The Christian ideal is very high, but it is not an impossible ideal, because everything is possible for God. The Eucharist communicates to us, precisely, the strength to go in this direction. In it we receive Jesus at the moment of his greatest love, at the moment in which he gives himself, his body and blood, for us. Through it, Jesus infuses us with the dynamism of his love. Therefore, after having received it, we have within us the necessary strength to walk courageously and generously on the path traced by Jesus for us. It is the way of true happiness, because it is the way of total love. +John I. Okoye
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