Wanted: a third son!
Year A – 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 21:28-32: “A man had two sons”
Today we hear the second parable concerning the vineyard. Last Sunday, it was about day labourers called to work in the vineyard; today, instead, it is about two sons whom their father invites to go there.
1. A God who turns everything upside down!
“What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I don’t want to.’ But afterwards he changed his mind and went. He went to the second and said the same thing. He answered, ‘Yes, sir.’ But he did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?” They answered, “The first.”
Who are these two sons? Jesus identifies them clearly. The first, who says NO but then changes his mind, represents the tax collectors and prostitutes, the two categories of sinners most despised, regarded as “beyond conversion” and accused of delaying the coming of the Kingdom of God.
The second represents the chief priests and the elders of the people, whom Jesus is addressing. To these we might add the scribes and Pharisees, so often reproached by Jesus: those who considered themselves righteous and, consequently, in no need of conversion.
And yet, to these people, whose YES is actually a NO, to those who “say and do not do” (Matthew 23:3), Jesus addresses a shocking, cutting statement: “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.”
It is certainly true that God does not follow our rankings, our categories, or our criteria of order and value!
2. Which son reflects me?
Which of the two sons do we identify with? Perhaps we feel somewhat uncomfortable choosing either one. We could do with a third son, one who says YES and actually goes to the vineyard! But this ideal third son does not exist. Or rather, he does exist, but it is not us. It is Christ, whose whole life was a YES: “In him it has always been ‘Yes’. For all the promises of God find their ‘Yes’ in him” (2 Corinthians 1:19-20).
But the Word forces us to confront these two sons. If we think about it carefully, both of them live together within us. Goethe said: “Two souls, alas, dwell in my breast.” After all, Paul himself said: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Romans 7:15).
We too so often speak “with a double heart”, as the psalmist says (Psalm 12:3). How many times we invoke “Lord, Lord” (Matthew 7:21), and how many Amens — that is, how many YESes — we utter which clash with the reality of our lives!
Every morning, every day, I say YES to the Lord as I listen to his Word. And then? Then the day turns out to be something else entirely. Of course. But how could I possibly say NO to the Father?
It happens to me a little as it does in some African cultures where I have worked, where saying NO would be considered disrespectful. At most, they will tell you, “Tomorrow.” And that “tomorrow”, you already know, means NO.
That is how I behave with God as well: politely disobedient!
The boundaries between our YESes and our NOs are very blurred. Fr Ermes Ronchi comments: “A man had two sons. And we might say: a man had two hearts. Because those two sons are our divided heart, a heart that says yes and says no, a heart that speaks and then contradicts itself… One of the most important prayers in the Psalms asks: Lord, give me an undivided heart; do not let me have two hearts fighting against one another; give me a heart made one (cf. Psalm 101).”
3. Who is my brother?
Two sons, two brothers! Yes, because being children creates brotherhood.
Who is my brother? Perhaps the one who has the audacity to say NO, who values his freedom from every constraint, a rebel. I think of those who describe themselves as indifferent or non-practising, as non-believers… Yet, to my great surprise, I find them working in the vineyard of solidarity and fraternity, struggling for a better world.
“What do you think?… Which of the two did the father’s will?” I too answer: “The first”, that is, the one whom I considered far away, the one I thought could not care less about the vineyard!
4. Wanted: the third son and brother!
Someone has imagined the presence of a third son in the parable. He had heard the Father inviting his two brothers and, silently, without saying a word, had gone to work in the vineyard.
I do not know whether you have ever met this third brother. I have found him many times in our communities: discreet, generous, willing and attentive brothers who, without drawing attention to themselves and without needing to be asked, make sure that things are already done. They are a blessing to a community. Sadly, we often notice them only when they are no longer there.
In families there is often someone who takes on this role — very often it has been, and still is, the mothers. Well, this third son or third daughter makes the figure of Jesus present, “the one who is among us as one who serves” (cf. Luke 22:27). The Father is looking for sons and daughters like these: “true worshippers” (cf. John 4:23).
For reflection and personal prayer
- “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just’” (Ezekiel 18:25-28, first reading).
How often I too have thought this in my self-righteousness! Convert me, Lord, to your way of acting. - “In humility value others above yourselves” (Philippians 2:1-11, second reading).
Free me, Lord, from envy, and let my heart rejoice in the good of others. - “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Gospel).
Strip me, Lord, of my claims to superiority. Let me marvel when I see myself overtaken by those at the end of the queue, and let me gladly go and take “the lowest place” (Luke 14:9).
Every day is the TODAY of the parable:
“Son, today go and work in the vineyard!”
P. Manuel João Pereira Correia, MCCJ
Fr. Manuel João, comboni missionary
Sunday Reflection
from the womb of my whale, ALS
Our cross is the pulpit of the Word
