Sunday 1st October 2023 -Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 18:25-28/ Psalm 24(25)/ Philippians 2:1-11/ Matthew 21:28-32

It seems the human way is to be quick to blame others when we get things wrong. We are encouraged by the world around us to see ourselves as good and then judge others according to our values. It must have always been this way because right at the beginning of scripture the account of Adam and Eve has Adam blaming Eve for his failures claiming that she led him astray after she herself was tempted by the devil. It can be all too tempting to seek to justify our actions by looking towards others rather than looking into ourselves and considering the mind set we have developed. This mind set, or way of thinking, is nurtured throughout our lives. In the early years it can be moulded by our upbringing, or the way people live around us. We can be influenced by the demands of the society we live in where vices can be seen as virtues and the values of our faith are discounted. It is no use blaming others for our own wrongdoing, eventually we will be held to account as individuals and blaming cultural pressures will not get us off the hook.

As the first reading tells us our choices are a matter of life and death. Not a physical earthly life or death but an immortal spiritual life or death. Death in the spirit leading to an existence devoid of God’s love or life lived to the full eternally enveloped in the boundless love God has for us. Do we renounce our integrity to commit sin, or do we renounce sin to build our integrity? Do we wish to live a life full of God’s love or a life dead to love?

These questions need answering but as with the example of the two sons in the Gospel the easy answer is to say yes to God’s offer to us and then do nothing about it. It can be harder to say no but then change our mindset and seek God’s love after all. Both are possible and we have examples of those who have changed from good to bad as well as those who have changed from bad to good. In most cases it might be that we are a bit of both. We say we are going to work in God’s vineyard but rather than blatantly not going we just do a mediocre job, hoping that it might be enough. Our faith should always drive us to work as hard as we can for God because he has offered us so much through the suffering and death of Jesus. The modern way is to condemn someone based on the one thing they have done wrong, there being no way back and no redemption. God’s love is ready to forgive all things, forget all things, provided we acknowledge what we have done wrong and sincerely try not to offend against God’s love again. If we do, as will be almost inevitable, the compassion of God is always ready to forgive again and again. If we are sincere in seeking redemption, we can be forgiven time and time again.

We live in a culture of death. Our modern world measures each of us by our economic value. Everywhere we are encouraged to be selfish only considering our own rights, needs and wants without a thought of how that might impinge on those of others. Children are seen as a commodity that we have a right to have rather than a precious gift from God. If they are created by mistake or without thought, they can be destroyed while still in the womb. The elderly and the sick are viewed as a financial burden and will soon be encouraged to avail themselves of legalised suicide. This is all done in the name of compassion and mercy obscuring the true purpose born of selfishness. We have a duty to care for the most vulnerable in life, the unborn, the elderly, the sick, the homeless, the poor, those displaced by war, famine and unjust jurisdictions, the list goes on and on.

The second reading gives us a model for how to live in a just community ending with a wonderful hymn about the example Jesus set for us. As a faith community we should all have a common purpose and a common mind set. All too often our human weaknesses lead to arguments and division. There will always be disagreements, but they must be settled in prayerful discussion and not allowed to develop into damaging divisions. There should be no competition between us, no conceit, no claiming attention for ourselves, we should be retiring and modest, always considering the other person to be better than ourselves.

In the wonderful words of the early hymn the divinity of Jesus is proclaimed but also his willingness to empty himself completely even to the point of dying as a common criminal on a cross. It is through this humbling act that Jesus led the way for us to enter eternity to be with him. All we need do is to ‘acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father’.

Let us practice humility in our relationship with each other and others, following the example set by Jesus. While living in the world let us not renounce our integrity becoming mired in the sinfulness around us. Let us be willing workers in God’s vineyard not just saying we will go but working hard to bring God’s love and compassion into the world of today. Our life must be more than words, we should seek to express our faith by the way we live.

God Bless Brendan