NOT BY WORD BUT BY ACTION

TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR (Ezek 18:25-28; Phil 2:1-11; Matt 21:28-32) This Sunday coincides with the 57th anniversary of the independence of Nigeria. On this day the church in Nigeria celebrates the feast of Our Lady Queen and Patroness of Nigeria and special readings have been chosen for the day. However, this reflection is on the readings of the 26th Sunday of the year, even though majority of the readers are in Nigeria and may hear different readings at mass. The Gospel reading of this Sunday features the first of the three parables told by Jesus, not in Galilee, but in Jerusalem. The three parables were addressed to the chief priests and the elders of the people (the religious leaders), and not to the crowd or to the disciples. The three parables are all about responding positively to God by our actions and not only by our words. In the first parable, Jesus gives us two examples. The first is that of the son who said to his father that he will not work but in the end went ahead and did the work. The second is that of the son who said that he will work but in the end did not. The first was then acclaimed as the one who did the will of the father. Jesus described the reaction of the two sons differently. The second son simply did not live up to his words. On the other hand, the first son changed his mind. The first son had integrity, while the younger brother gave cheap, valueless words to his father while having no intention at all of working. The first son had no intention of working and then had the honesty of saying so to his father. He was wrong, but he was honest. The younger brother was the opposite. He did not just change his mind. From time he had no intention of doing his father’s will. He said the expedient thing to his father knowing what his father wanted to hear but he had no integrity. He was insincere, because he had no intention of working even though he said he would. Jesus interpreted the parable allegorically. “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.” Jesus used the parable to condemn the hypocrisy of the religious elites of his time, who neither believed in John the Baptist nor in Jesus. They were religious leaders and were meant to take the lead in being faithful to the covenant with God. But their religiosity was a mere external show. The parable followed the Jesus’ cleansing of the temple shortly after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus had thrown the moneychangers out of the Temple and this infuriated the chief priests and elders of the people, who gained so much from the illegal and unholy trade going on in the temple. The religious leaders inflicted economic, social and spiritual harm through their greedy and unjust leadership. Jesus addressed the parable to them and in this way, exposed their insincerity and hypocrisy, while remarking on the openness of the so called public sinners to God’s word. The message addressed to the religious leaders by Jesus is still relevant today, especially with the big gap that exists between the faith we profess and the life we live. We have continued to witness the rise in religious movements side by side the rise in crime in the society. Many people have continued to say “Yes” to God without making effort to live according to the divine injunctions. Jesus addresses the religious leaders who have continued to feed fat on the ignorance and gullibility of the people. He addresses the people whose Christianity ends with religious rituals and obligations, without the practice of love and charity. He addresses those who combine Christian life with pride and arrogance. He addresses people who profess to be Christians but are actively involved in malicious and inhuman practices. As we celebrate the anniversary of the independence of Nigeria, Jesus addresses also the secular leaders, who also professed verbally to serve the people. Some of the leaders are Christians, who, sometimes use the pulpits for campaign and pledge before God to serve the people as Christians, but engage in forms of leadership that surprise even the devil. Jesus urges them not only to say “Yes” but to also show commitment in the way they govern. He urges the leaders to be good leaders and the followers to be good followers. Our nation can never move forward if we do not close the gap between what we say and what we do. Jesus invites us to profess peace and also live in a way that will promote peace in the society. Paul presents the life of Jesus as a model in this regard. Jesus said “Yes” to the will of the Father. He humbled himself, not only by becoming human, but by taking the nature of a servant. He took the path of suffering because it was the will of the Father. To follow Jesus is to seek to do all that He asks of us. No matter how many times we have said “no” to God, we still can change and seek God’s will. But if we are always saying good things and doing nothing, then we are not doing the will of God. If we have said “No” to God, he offers us an opportunity of turning to him. If we have said a sincere “Yes” to God, he urges us not to depart from the path of integrity. The Hebrew word “shuv” means “to turn”. It is used in the Old Testament in two ways. One can either turn to God or turn away from God. For Ezekiel, in the first reading, the best way to turn is to turn to God. This turning to God is not only by verbal profession, it should also reflect in the way one lives his or her life. Through the words of the prophets and through the example of Jesus, God continues to invite us to an integral conversion. This conversion is not only by word, but more importantly, by action. It is never late for a living person to turn to God, because God is rich in mercy. Happy Sunday. God bless us. Fr Ogechi.