Homily for the Week of September 25, 2011

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time A, 2011

Ez 18:25-28; Phil 2:1-11; Mt 21: 28-32

The word attitude usually refers to our view of the world. No two of us have exactly the same attitude. This is best illustrated by an old story once told about an ancient Persian Religion teacher and his son, who were walking along a country road behind their donkey who was constantly nibbling on grass. A man, seeing the teacher and his son perspiring profusely remarked: Look how foolish they are, walking instead of riding.

Hearing the remark, the teacher and his son climbed on the donkey and rode to the next village. There they heard an old man exclaim: They ought to be ashamed making that poor donkey carry two riders. Then the teacher got off the donkey and walked beside while his son rode the donkey to the next village.

Then the teacher heard the comment: Poor old man. That boy should be ashamed, making his poor old dad walk. Then the Teacher got on the donkey while his son got off and walked.

Finally another villager made this observation: Look at that old man riding while his son has to walk. How cruel!

The attitude of the villagers discloses how they view the world of the old men, the young boy, and donkeys, but also it teaches us that the old man really had no opinion of his own concerning this situation. He merely reacted repeatedly to the comments of those around him.

In our Gospel Jesus makes the comparison with the behavior of the spiritual leaders of his time, and those who saw themselves as good. They could say to Jesus "Yes, Lord," but they had no need to change their way of life. It was really the so-called bad people, the tax collectors and the impure women, who truly heard the words of Jesus and acted upon them.

There is something in all three of today's readings that speaks to us of promises kept, of walking in truth, of recognizing our dependence upon God and of not merely giving lip-service to God, of not thinking that just because we keep to the rules we are safe. All three readings give us information about standards. What standards do we live by?

You probably can point to few people who seem to promote one set of standards, while they live by another. You might also be able to point to a few people who come off lacking standards that they actually live by. For example, you might have one friend who claims to believe in chastity which in church but doesn't follow through on his belief in his life, and another friend who dresses provocatively and claims not to believe in God's teachings on chastity but does remain chaste in practice .

Some of us may see the same dynamics happening in some areas of our own life. Sometimes we might promote our Catholic faith even though we know we are struggling to live up to it. Other times, we might be living according to our Catholic faith but not want to admit it to others. Whenever we proclaim our Christian values, we run the risk of looking hypocritical by falling short of them. But when we don't express our values to others, we may lose an opportunity to teach others about our faith. Some days we might be more like the son in the Gospel who said to his Dad I will not, but afterward changed his mind and went. Other days we might be like the son who said to his dad I will, but did not go.

Do we love our enemies providing they are hundreds of miles away. Do we decide to get rid of our bad habits and addictions only when the doctor tells us that they will kill us? Do we feel guilty or ashamed of what we are doing only when someone happens to see us? Many of us may say Yes to these questions.

In the Lord's Prayer, we say "Your will be done." How often we repeat these words, but how hard it is to accept what happens today in our own lives! The measure of the way we keep our promises to God is mirrored in the way we keep them to others. If we try not to make unremarkable promises but know that if we give our word then we must keep it, then we are walking in the truth. The more our faithfulness mirrors God's own, the more we are able to share God's great love with the world.

When do you find it difficult to keep your promise? In prayer, invite Christ to listen to your difficulty and to give you the gift of understanding your difficulty.

No matter how close we are to God, we all have need of repentance, how might God be calling you to repent? What new level of faithfulness might God be inviting you to?