HOMILY FOR THE TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY YEAR A
By: Fr. Augustine Ikechukwu Opara
THEME: ARE WE CHRISTIANS OR DO WE SAY WE ARE CHRISTIANS!
(EZ.18:25-28, PHIL. 2:1-11; MATT.21:28-32)
In the gospel there is the good son, who says all the right things, and wants to look consistent, even though he is not. And then there’s the bad son, who refuses to do the right thing, but then changes his mind. But then there is the true story in this gospel, which Jesus is really telling us. about the chief priests and the elders, who refused to see that John the Baptist required them to change their minds and tax collectors and prostitutes, who decided to embrace something completely new in John the Baptist. And it’s no coincidence that the people who change their minds here are different types of people from those who don’t.
Many parents can identify with the gospel today, but Jesus is not talking about wayward children; He is talking about the chief priests and the elders — perhaps about us. They were very upset with Jesus. After all, they were the ones of recognized authority. They were the ones who had all the religious formation. They were the scholars who kept the law of Moses. They were the so-called religious, the hypocrites. But the fundamental message here is, that promises can never take the place of performance. Good words can never replace good deeds. Remembers the son who said yes, went and didn’t, he was even respectful of his father. We can come here every week, say all kinds of prayers, sound very respectful of God, but what really matters, what we will be judged is how we act there, day after day. (Matt. 25:35ff)
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It is common in today’s world to find Catholics who do not openly agree with basic Catholic teachings. We all know people who say they are Catholic, but who do not come to Mass on Sunday – they only come at Christmas and Easter, if they come at all. And if we are honest with ourselves, we even recognize in our own lives this same trend. We call ourselves practicing Catholics, and yet we spend more time working on our favorite hobbies than on our prayer life. We spend more time becoming experts in our professions than in our faith. We tolerate in our own lives, hidden habits of selfishness and sin while criticizing others for their most visible flaws. If we think about it a little bit, we see very clearly that this contradiction between what we believe and how we live is not a good thing.
It is like the second son in today’s parable. He impressed his father with fancy words and good demonstration of healthy obedience, but beneath the surface he still lived for his own self-centered satisfaction, not for the greater good of his mission in the Father’s kingdom.
When we fall into this contradiction, it is no wonder that we do not grow in our experience of Christ’s love and grace, and it is no wonder that we do not grow in wisdom, inner peace, and the profound Christian joy we thirst for. All because of this systematic hypocrisy of our time. A time when people live their lives against their belief. The emphasis today is on the importance of what we do and not just what we say. St Paul suggests that to be the body of Christ we must have the mind, attitude, and ways of thinking and feeling in Christ. The active passion of love for God and our neighbour.
My brothers and sisters, faith, if it is real, makes a real impact on our lives. When it does not, our spiritual growth atrophies. A late conversion is better than the self-righteous delusion that one does not need conversion. Do we just say we are Christians, or do we live our lives as Christians?
Have a blessed week!
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