Ezekiel 18:25-28/Psalm. 24:4-9/Philippians. 2:1-11/Matthew 21:28-32

The first reading presents to us a theme of individual responsibility, this theme played an important role in Ezekiel’s thought. A notion very prevalent among the Jews, all through their history, they had it that the sins of parents were punished on their children.

Ezekiel tells his audience that each man is responsible for his own sins; that is, he succeeds in convincing his audience that God does not act according to the principle of transgenerational retribution.

Ezekiel says, the righteous man will be judged for the sins that they have committed, and if they are found wanting and lacking, then they will suffer for the shortcomings and mistakes they had committed.

Therefore, he says as each man has a free will, the good man is likely to turn to sin, and likewise, the sinner may repent and live a good life; so, the aggregation of sin accumulated in the course of a lifetime may not really determine destiny; only one’s present disposition and behavior pattern.

Beloved, this is a reminder for us not to think that we are more deserving of God’s grace or more worthy than others, and then neglect our need to do God’s will. We must act consistently with what we perceive to be good; only in this way that we can avoid God’s punishment.

The gospel presents the parable of the two sons, who acted differently in their response to their father’s call on them to do his command. The first without reflecting, refused to obey the father, later changed his mind after considering his action carefully, thought through it and then did what had been asked of him. This was not so for the second son, he initially agreed that he would do what he had been asked to do, but in the end, did not do it.

Beloved in Christ, the gospel tells us that there are two very common classes of people in this world.  First, there are the people whose profession is much better than their practice.  They will promise anything; they make great protestations of piety and fidelity; but their practice lags far behind. Let us note that Lip service of God will not merit heaven.

 Secondly, there are those whose practice is far better than their profession.  They claim to be tough, hard-headed, materialistic but somehow, they are found out doing kind and generous things, almost in secret, as if they were ashamed of it.  They profess to have no interest in the Church and in religion, and yet, when it comes to the bit, they live more Christian lives than many professing Christians. Therefore, we are reminded, that we must be people of action, of doing God’s will in all things.

Thirdly, Jesus seems to be saying that an initial ‘no’ to God’s invitation, to the ways in which God is present to us, need not be decisive because a change of mind and heart is always possible. It is not so much where we begin in our relationship with the Lord that matters but where we end up – Ezekiel shares that, the sinner who examines himself (opens his eyes and turns away) and recognized his own guilt and repent shall live. We can keep the Lord at bay with a whole series of ‘no’s but the Lord keeps giving us opportunities to have a change of mind and heart.

 If we say ‘no’ to one of the Lord’s approaches, he will find another approach. So, like in the words of today’s second reading, we are always being called to let the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus. It doesn’t matter how many times we say ‘no’ to that mind of Christ, provided we say ‘yes’ to it in the end.

ROSARY PRAYER: GLORIOUS MYSTERIES