Gospel for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 21, 28-32)
28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29 But he replied, ‘I do not want to.’ Yet afterward he regretted it and went. 30 And the man came to his second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I will, sir’; and yet he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even have second thoughts afterward so as to believe him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Father Gabriele Dipaola's commentary
The readings for this Sunday lend themselves to different interpretations, and it is not easy to grasp the fundamental reason that unites them. Yet, both the first reading from the book of the prophet Ezekiel and the Gospel passage from Matthew are of extraordinary richness if we take their contexts into account. The common thread running through both readings can be found in a warning: to man, who is distracted and unable to grasp God's call that involves his existence, the word of God reminds him of the seriousness of the moment and the hour, and the urgency of a responsible choice.
When asked by his father, the first son immediately answers yes: he seems honest and obedient, but in reality, he only cares about pleasing his father with words, while his heart is far from Him. He is cloaked in hypocrisy. How many times is our attitude also filled with outward self-righteousness: we show ourselves to be good observers of the law, we show ourselves outwardly to be good Christians, but it is only a mask. Yet:
«With God you cannot cheat, it is no use covering up and pretending... With God it is only necessary to be in the truth, to live in the truth, to do the Truth. In fact, we are not saved by appearances, by fine words, or by the cloak of the righteous: it is necessary to be truly righteous, deeds are required!» (Cardinal A. Comastri).
«Whoever finds himself in this state must have the courage to utter an authentic "yes" and not just a superficial one, a "yes" that does not hide within it a real and decisive "no"» (Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi).
How difficult it is for those who feel righteous before God to begin a path of conversion, of commitment, of admitting their own faults, their own hypocrisy, of not being better than so many others. So much so that, with bitterness, Jesus will eventually say that it is easier for a sinner to convert than for a presumed practitioner, secure in his own righteousness, deluded into thinking he is "walking a path."
Then we have the second son: at first he does not want to do what his father tells him either, but his rebellion is only initial. He has a sensitive heart, close to that of his father even if he does not know it. He is able to overcome his initial reluctance, not stopping at what he likes or does not like to do, and he chooses what is right to do even when it costs! «In this son, the category of many rebels, of sinners, of those undisciplined according to the law and in common judgment, is outlined; yet they are capable of generous gestures, ready to make a flower of love blossom in the desert of their impure existence. They are "the tax collectors and prostitutes" of the final explanation that Jesus adds to the parable. Christ's voice is an appeal to conversion and commitment even for the rebels so that, by disowning their past, they may set out on the road to the field, that is, of new life» (Cardinal G. Ravasi).
We understand, therefore, that the invitation to conversion is for both sons, from a way of acting that we often find within ourselves as well, with our yeses and our nos. We are not just one of the two sons, but we are both sons, and our salvation will be when we recognize in ourselves the sin that we reproach in others. Only then, and not before, will it be possible for us to convert.
A holy monk once said: you come to this church to ask God to do what you want. I try to live in this church asking God to let me do what He wants. Here is the point: doing what God wants!
The parable of the two sons is in deep harmony with the message of Ezekiel. Unfortunately, the prejudice of some ancient interpreters—who devised the identification of the first son (who says "yes," but does not obey) with Israel and the second son (who says "no," but obeys) with the Church of the Gentiles, even manipulating the original manuscripts—produced a profound falsification of the meaning of the parable.
The question is not secondary, because Matthew does not intend to make this parable a judgment on the situation of Israel in relation to Christ. The problem is another, and concerns the path of conversion upon which tax collectors and prostitutes set out despite their condition, unlike the pious and righteous who refused it because of their self-righteousness. It is a fundamental question that cuts across society and the church: "Who is the true believer?"
Is it the one who professes his faith, but does not live it, or the one who—while not declaring his faith—does the will of God?
Here too, however, we must be careful not to debase the message with overly quick simplifications. Matthew does not condemn the orthodoxy of those who believe, but the fracture that often arises between orthodoxy and orthopraxy.
The unity between the confession of faith and practice is one of the strong points of the Gospel according to Matthew, as I have already had occasion to point out at other moments of the liturgical year. The evidence springs from some fundamental passages of the work, in which believers who make a show of their wondrous works and most coveted charisms—«Lord, Lord! Did we not prophesy in your name, and drive out demons in your name, and perform miracles in your name?»—are answered in a scathing and unappealable manner: «I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!» (Mt 7:21-23). The invocation «Kyrie, Kyrie / Lord, Lord» shows that we are within a Christian community in which—similarly to the situation in Corinth—prophecy, exorcisms, and miracles represented a motive of prestige and boasting for those who practiced them. The controversy, of course, does not have as its direct target prophecy or even miracles: they accompany both the proclamation of Jesus and that of his messengers, but they are not incontrovertible signs of a Christian community. What defines a disciple of Christ is the fulfillment of the Father's will.
In this light, tax collectors and prostitutes become a model for those who say and do not do, because they had the strength to change their minds, whereas the so-called orthodox who profess their faith only in words never have the courage to question themselves and their own certainties. Jesus' warning must be taken absolutely seriously if we are to prevent the denunciation of the great French writer Georges Bernanos from remaining current: «God does not choose the same men to guard and to accomplish His Word».
The Parable of the Two Sons: Appearance Versus Concreteness – Why a "no" turned into action is worth more than a facade "yes" – How to overcome daily resistances and choose what is good.