Jesus Christ embodies the genuine bond with God and with humans.  Through him, fully revealed and done is the will of God.

Jesus tells a parable to the chief priests and the elders of the people.  Even we who live today understand it easily.  That is because it is about the family and family bond, that is to say, about something that is part of our life.

So then, it is not hard to understand the short story.  And we readily and rightly answer which of the two sons does the will of the father.  It seems we intuitively see that a bond comes about more by what we do than by what we say.

It is also easy for us, then, to point at the one who is guilty.  And it does not cross our mind that he may be us.  That was what happened to king David (2 Sam 12, 1-10).  He got very angry with the rich man who took the ewe lamb of a poor man.  And the prophet Nathan had to tell the king, “You are the man.”

Living up to the bond we have as Christians

So, does not Jesus have to tell us, then, that the not so religious people in the eyes of the world are entering the kingdom of God before us?  For we hardly think that what he told the chief priests and the elders of the people applies to us.

But the Scriptures are here to teach us (Rom 15, 4).  And that is why it is right to insist that we should read or hear them as addressed to us.

For, after all, we who are Christians are not immune to the things that Mt 23 decry.  For instance, we do not always do what we preach.  We also like to have the best seats, to receive honors, greetings and titles, and even to set ourselves apart from people by the way we dress and speak.  And not rarely do we insist on our way as if it were the only one that is fair.

We leave much to be desired, yes, about living up to the bond that ties us to God and to others.  And so, to be true to such bond, we have to change and be like Jesus.  That is to say, we should have his devotion to the Father and his charity to humans (SV.EN VI:413).  Without this, our religion will be of no use; we will not enter the kingdom of God.  And we will need the words of Jesus to make us clean (Jn 15, 3).

Lord Jesus Christ, give us your mindset and your bond with the Father and with other humans.  We will thus have the drive also to serve others and to give our bodies up and shed our blood for them.  And make us bring the Good News to the poor, as did St. Vincent, and help to bring in renewal and reform in the Church.

27 September 2020
26th Sunday in O.T. (A)
Ez 15, 25-28; Phil 2, 1-11; Mt 21, 28-32

Solemnity of St. Vincent de Paul
Is 52, 7-10; 1 Cor 1, 26-31; 2, 1-2; Mt 5, 1-12a