Homily for 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Oct. 1, 2023
Matt 21: 28-32
The Fountains, Tuckahoe
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

“A man had 2 sons” (Matt 21: 28).

Jesus tells 2 parables that begin that way.  Both are concerned with conversion.

The more famous of the 2 is the one we call “The Prodigal Son”; or, better, “The Lost Son.”  In it, the younger son undergoes a conversion, returns home, and is extravagantly welcomed by his father, while the older son, who stayed at home, remains alienated from his father and in need of a conversion.  Jesus addressed that parable and 2 similar ones to “the Pharisees and scribes” who were complaining that he “welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15).

The parable we heard today is addressed to “the chief priests and elders of the people” who challenge his teaching about conversion, faith, and producing good fruit in our lives (Matt 21:18-23).  Before he tells the parable, he directly involves them by asking them, “What’s your opinion?” about what he’s about to narrate.

Of course, Jesus is also asking us.  What do we think about the 2 sons?  “Which of the 2 did his father’s will?” (21:31)

Even Jesus’ opponents know the answer:  the son who changed his mind (21:31).  But they don’t grasp the core of Jesus’ message.  People generally regarded as gross sinners, like tax collectors (known for greed and hard hearts) and prostitutes are undergoing conversions and “entering the kingdom of God,” while “the chief priests and elders of the people” are rejecting God’s message, whether it’s delivered by John the Baptist or by Jesus (21:31-32).

The 1st reading also addressed the question of how God reacts to conversion of life:  “When someone … turns from the wickedness he has committed, and does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life” (Ezek 18:27).

This is a message of hope for everyone, a message of salvation.  Every one of us commits sin—call it wickedness—in some way, probably in multiple ways.  Jesus promises us forgiveness and eternal life if we’ll change our minds, change our hearts, change our ways—at least make sincere efforts to do so.  As we know from long experience, turning from our sins a never-ending project—whether we’re guilty of malicious speech, lying, impurity, greed, laziness, overindulgence, even if we’ve stolen, committed sexual sins, or killed.  God’s mercy is without limit; his “compassion and love are from of old” (Ps 25:6), as we said in the Psalm.

We may think we’re reasonably virtuous.  God still desires our conversion.  “He guides the humble to justice [which means having a right relationship with God], and teaches the humble his way” (Ps 25:9).  St. Paul, in fact, commands us to be humble:  “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others” (Phil 2:3-4).  Always strive to be of service to others:  in your family, at work, in your neighborhood.

St. Paul continues:  take on the attitude of Jesus himself, who “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave … humbling himself” (2:5,7-8).  He showed that at the Last Supper when he, the apostles’ “master and teacher” washed their feet, the nasty job of slaves, and commanded us to serve one another (John 13:1-15).  And then he, the sinless one, suffered death in place of us sinners.

We’re not called to die in someone else’s place, not usually, altho some people like police officers, firefighters, and soldiers do put their lives on the line for the public good.  The least we can do is sacrifice some comfort, some convenience, maybe some of our dignity, to assist another person.  Perhaps that requires some conversion on our part.  “What’s your opinion?”  How shall you do the Father’s will?