Mt 21:28-32
Today's gospel appears late in Matthew, just after Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. In the days between that entry paved with palm branches and hosannas and the arduous journey when he carried the cross of our salvation, Jesus engaged in a number of debates and discussions with the chief priests and elders. These debates helped to seal His death warrant. He was cutting too close to the bone, for the authorities to bear, proving the saying, “the truth hurts.”Through the use of parables, Jesus pointed out the contradictions between what the priests and elders preached and how they lived. Jesus pointed out how
the priests and elders heard John’s call to repentance, but failed to heed it.
The second son in the parable, the one who said he would go to work in the vineyard but did not go, represents those who proclaimed the law but failed to follow through on its principles and demands. They are the hypocrites. They are the actors who play a role in which they do not believe. They could be judges, mayors or government officials anywhere today.
The first son, who initially refused to work in the vineyard but then fulfilled the father’s request, represents the social and religious outcasts of the time, the sinners, who, despite not following the law in the beginning, heard the call to repentance and eventually heeded it. They are like us who, after many attempts, finally quit smoking, get sober, return to the Church after a long “vacation,” or in general simply get it, eventually hearing the call to repentance and acting on it.
While the second brother mouthed an obedient response to the father’s request,he did not follow through. The first brother though initially unwilling did what he was commanded. While not perfect obedience the seriousness of any sin was mitigated by his later action. How often have we acted, like the hypocritical second brother? How often have we made a commitment and then not honored it? How often have we acted like the first brother, initially refusing a request but then, as the result of a guilty conscience, quietly going and doing what we were originally asked?
We can all accuse ourselves of mouthing principles that we fail to practice; the “do as I say not as I do” syndrome? Sometimes it requires the pain of having the hypocrisy of one's actions pointed out to drive a conversion.
I quit smoking back in 1977--thirteen years after starting--when, after harshly lecturing an ICU patient about the dangers of her continuing to smoke, I leaned over to listen to her heart. A pack of Marlboros, the red and white crush-proof box, fell out of my white coat pocket and onto the sheet. The patient reacted with unmistakable anger.
All I remember of her diatribe was the accusation that I was a hypocrite, a liar, and fundamentally dishonest. She continued for a bit but I remember nothing more as I was wondering if I could break the glass and jump out of the eighth floor window. That experience was excruciating. I quit smoking that moment. Embarrassment is one of the most painful motivators of change anyone can know. And I remain grateful to that patient for saying what had to be said.
We heard in the psalms, “The sins of my youth and my frailties, remember not; in your kindness remember me, because of your goodness.” Even when we have acted like the second son when we have been hypocritical or disobedient, it is not too late. We heard the promise in the first reading that If anyone turns from wickedness and does what is right and just, his life shall be preserved, he shall live and not die.
Truly, good and upright is the Lord.
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October 1 is fast-approaching and with it the 13th anniversary of making final vows at Campion Center in Weston MA
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