Mother Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, October 01, 2023, as the twenty sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A. In the Entrance Antiphon we pray: “O Lord, you had just cause to judge men as you did: because we sinned against you and disobeyed your will. But now show us your greatness of heart, and treat us with your unbounded kindness. Amen.”
This day’s Mass highlights God’s unbounded kindness towards those who might have disobeyed him, but who, realising their weaknesses, like tax collectors and prostitutes, come running back to him for his mercy. In the first reading, the prophet Ezekiel, the watchman of Israel in Babylon, has the uneasy task of dispelling the feeling of despair among his people in captivity. In the second reading, Saint Paul tells his Philippian converts that their community will become perfect if they strive for greater unity among their members. In the Gospel, Saint Matthew shows us Jesus who is already in Jerusalem where the confrontation with the Scribes and Pharisees has already begun. This will eventually lead to his arrest and execution.
First Reading: Ezekiel 18: 25-28.
Thus says the Lord: You say, "The Lord’s way is not fair!" Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed, he does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Comment
Church historians tell us that the prophet Ezekiel performed his prophetic ministry during the Babylonian exile from the year 592 BC to about the year 570 BC. The name Ezekiel in Hebrew means “God strengthens” or “May God strengthen”. Ezekiel was taken to Babylon alongside other prominent people of Jerusalem when that city was attacked, captured and ransacked by King Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC, as we read in the 2 Kings 24: 10-17. It was therefore from Babylon that Ezekiel preached the message received from God for the exiles and also for those who remained in the land of Israel after the deportation.
What was the overall message Ezekiel had for his people? Like the other prophets, Ezekiel received from God the mission to urge his people to remain faithful to the Covenant God made with them. Unlike the other prophets, however, Ezekiel, first and foremost, presents a message of God in constant action. God’s hand enables the prophet to see God’s glory everywhere and in every creature. He shows that God acts in the whole world in every human activity. He combined the office of a priest and a prophet. The result was a healthy balance between the external rituals of temple worship and a more personal and more spiritual religion of the heart.
In the passage the Church has selected for our meditation this day, the prophet teaches the possibility of pardon through repentance for one’s accumulated evils. He appeals for personal responsibility, telling the exiles that they will not be punished for the sins committed by someone else. He stresses the possibility of personal conversion, which constitutes one of the prophet’s basic messages. God restores his people, even while they are in exile. He will not abandon them when they turn to him in true conversion, a message that is relevant to us as well.
Let us pray with the Psalmist: “Lord, make me know your ways; teach me your paths and make me walk in your truth. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Second Reading: Philippians 2: 1-11.
Brothers and sisters: If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. 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. Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Comment
As we heard last Sunday, Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is one of those letters that have usually been referred to as the “Captivity Epistles”; the others are Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon. Saint Paul is said to have written them when he was in one prison or another.
We also heard that Philippi was quite an important commercial and historical city in Saint Paul’s time. It was in Macedonia and anyone traveling from Asia Minor to Greece would have stopped there. In the 4th century BC, Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, had built a fortified camp, which was named after him. It was later conquered by the Romans and in Paul’s days, the Romans were still there.
It is also important to mention that the church of Philippi was the first church Paul founded when he went to Europe during his second missionary journey around the year 50 or 51 AD. What is the overall message of Paul’s letter to the Philippians? In this letter, Saint Paul gives his readers news of the progress of the Gospel. From his prison, he encourages his converts to put his teachings into practice and to foster the growth of Christian virtues. This letter generally deals with important points of doctrine – the eternal destiny of man; the Christian’s attitude to earthly realities; the profound mystery of Christ and the example of his life on earth.
The passage selected for our meditation is one of the finest passages from Saint Paul’s letters. In it, Christ is glorified in lofty terms, he whom God greatly exalted and he on whom he bestowed the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Paul urges his Philippian converts to strive for greater union among their members. Their union must be guided by one faith, hope and love, with a common purpose and attitude. In this way, they will follow more closely the standard Christ left for them; they become one in Christ when they live together as one family. This is a message that is relevant to our society in Cameroon today where hatred, fear and intolerance have sadly torn apart the very fabric of our society; the result being these senseless wars that are persisting in many corners of our country.
Let us pray for the courage to live together as one family, loving and forgiving one another. “God, our Father, help us to live as one family, loving and protecting one another as Christ loves and protects his Church, so that joy and peace may reign in our midst. We make this supplication through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Gospel acclamation: “Alleluia, alleluia. Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may consider the wonders of your law. Alleluia.”
Gospel: Matthew 21: 28-32.
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not, ' but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, ‘but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him."
Comment
Jesus is now in the Holy City of Jerusalem, where his preaching of the Kingdom takes on a different tone. He is now in direct confrontation with the Scribes and the Pharisees and his message to the Holy City is direct. He tells its inhabitants to turn their backs on their old ways or else the Kingdom of Heaven will pass them by. The old ways are finished and the only way they are ever going to belong to God’s people will from now onwards be by faith in him, Jesus Christ.
So the basic message to the Jews, and to all of us listening to this broadcast, is to turn completely around from our old ways that do not tie in with our Christian faith. Jesus illustrates this turn around when he challenges the Chief Priests and Scribes with the parable of a father who asks his two sons to work in his vineyard. One says no, but on second thought, he goes to do what his father has just asked him to do. The other says yes, but does nothing after that. When Jesus asks them which of the two does his father’s will, the answer is obvious – the one who said No! at first but later changed his mind.
This parable is about the chief priests and elders, on the one hand, and tax collectors and prostitutes, on the other hand. The chief priests and elders said ‘Yes’ to God’s laws at first but rejected the call to holiness as preached by John the Baptist and Jesus Christ himself. The Jewish authorities symbolize the son who says ‘Yes’ but does not go to the vineyard. These religious officials are very rigorous in their observance of the Law, but when the moment of truth arrives, that of recognizing the testimony of John the Baptist and of Christ himself, they fail to yield to the divine spirit.
On the other hand, a great number of tax collectors and prostitutes initially say ‘No’ to God’s laws, but when John the Baptist calls on them to repent and turn away from their old ways, they obey. They are represented by the son who says ‘No’ at first, but later thinks the better of it and goes to his father’s vineyard. For this reason, Jesus says that the sinners will enter the kingdom of heaven before the religious leaders, who think of themselves a self-righteous.
If we desire to enter the kingdom of heaven, we need to examine those parts of our lives that must be changed. This requires that we spend personal time with God in prayer to ensure our spiritual growth. We may need to turn away from an empty or shallow prayer life to a full and sincere one. We must abandon selfishness and embrace charity by giving to the poor and the needy.
Let us pray this day for the courage to turn our lives around from our old ways and embrace the new. Even if we have been like tax collectors and the prostitutes, who said ‘No’ at first, let us also be like them who, in the end, said ‘Yes’ to the Lord, and received their reward. Jesus rejoices in the one who, despite raising objections at first, does turn around and do his will. He rejoices because, as someone has so beautifully put it, discipline is the fruit of love. Let us pray to be counted among those who are disciplined enough to follow the Lord this day and always.
Let us conclude our meditation with this prayer for peace from Pope Francis. “Let us pray. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the prophets, God of love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. We make our supplication through Jesus Christ the risen Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever. Amen.”
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