26th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

'No, I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and went.

Lectionary Readings for the 26th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
http://catholic.pcentral-online.net/lectionary/26th-sunday-a.html

Today's gospel is very interesting because it is another parable Jesus told the chief priests and elders. The parable is about two sons asked by their father to work in the vineyard. When the father asked his first son, the son said 'Yes' but he never went. When the father asked the second son, the son said 'No' but regretted it and went. Jesus then asked his audience who did the father's will, and they all answered, 'the second son'.

Our Christian ideal is that when we are asked to obey God's will, we say 'Yes' and do the Lord's will. Just like the example of our Lord and His Mother and all the servants of the Church who are both canonized or not canonized but live holy lives. Today's parable gives a more realistic and a more common situation in the world. When we are asked by bosses, superiors, parish priests, bishops, presidents, or leaders or persons in authority to do something, when we feel that the voice of God is in their speech, we respond either like the first son or like the second son. Our response if often imperfect. We say Yes but don't do it or we say No but do what should be done. Although the ideal is to say Yes and do what should be done, the practical situations we find ourselves in calls us to follow the example of the second son. Even though we do not like what we should do, we must follow and obey God's will through the authorities He has placed before us.

In reality and in the course of our Christian lives, we are sometimes like the first son. At another stage of life, we may be like the second son. The point that the Lord wants to convey to us is that even if we have sinned and not followed His will, we can change our ways and let our hearts return to Him and do His will of service to Him and His people. That is all He is asking of us. If we are now like the first son in our attitudes of heart or our outlook in life, then we are called to a change of mind and heart to be more like the mind and heart of His Son Jesus, who even though He may not like to undergo the Cross, said "Yes" to the Father and did His will.

Let us pray, that as we journey on in our Christian lives, we follow the Lord more and more in His ways: the ways of obedience and of doing the will of God in our lives. This takes the gift of faith and courage, which can be given to us if we invoke Christ and ask Him for help and assistance to strengthen us in our states of life and to do His will in the very ordinary responsibilities and tasks we need to do each day. Each time we do His will is a step toward the light of Christ. Every step towards Christ is a step toward the building of God's kingdom in us and in others.