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26th Sunday in Ordinary Time —Year A

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

 甘天霖神父                   

Gospel: Matthew 21:28-32 

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew,

Glory to you, O Lord!

"What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir,' but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily：AGREEING WITH THE FATHER’S DESIGNS

The parable of today's gospel depicts three characters: a father and two sons. At the invitation of his father to work in the vineyard, one right away said, “No,” and later repented and went to the field. The other one zealously and readily answered, “Yes, sir,” but then did not go. Their responses remind us of another saying of Jesus, “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my heavenly Father” (Mt 7:21).

In the first case, the allusion to the hated Gentiles, who are now elevated to the status of children, is explicit. They have not given any formal adherence to the will of the Lord, but they entered first in the kingdom of God. 

Now, the father approaches the other son, who evidently represents the Israelites whom Moses had already called "unfaithful children" (Dt 32:5, 20). Not all the Israelites, of course, but those who, in words, had committed themselves to the covenant and then had reduced them to external rites, worthless ceremonies, convinced that they are right with the Lord because they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings, prayers. This, at the time of Jesus, was the religion practiced by the priests of the temple and the notables of the people. 

This finding may lead to the dangerous illusion that these two children are of the prehistoric characters and have nothing to do with us. Christians would be the "third son," the one who says yes and does the will of the Father. But let's ask ourselves what impact have our formulas, our statements, our formal stand, our rituals in everyday life (“Go to work today in the vineyard!”)? Do they put an end to hatred, wars, abuses? While continuing to profess ourselves as Christians, do we not easily resign ourselves to a life of compromise? 

The third child exists, but we are not that child. Only "the Son of God, Jesus Christ,” Paul writes, was not "yes" and "no," but with him it was simply yes. "In him all the promises of God have come to be a yes” (2 Cor 1:19). He is the one who always said, "Yes, Father, this was your gracious will" (Mt 11:26). 

The conclusion of the parable is that, "The tax collectors and the prostitutes are ahead of you in the kingdom of God." "The publicans and the harlots" who know they are far from God do not delude themselves to doing his will. They are conscious of having said no; they do not try to fool themselves by fulfilling the precepts they themselves invented. They do not soothe their conscience with practices that have nothing in common with the true religion. Their awareness of being poor, weak, sinners in need of help, predisposes them to be first in receiving God’s gift. 

证道：忠实而不折扣地对天主的旨意说：是！

今日福音的比喻描写了三个人物：一位父亲和两个儿子。在受到父亲邀请到葡萄园中工作时，一个儿子立即说“不”，稍后感到懊悔，就去了田里。另一个儿子积极而欣然答应说“好，遵命”，之后却没有去。他们的回应提醒我们耶稣说的另一句话：“不是凡向我说‘主啊！主啊！’的人就能进天国；而是那承行我在天之父旨意的人，才能进天国。”（玛7:21）

在第一种情况中，暗示对外邦人的仇视，现今他们已经明确被提升到了子女的身份。虽然他们没有遵守上主旨意的任何外在形式，但是他们首先进入了天主的王国。

现今，父亲靠近了其他儿子，他显然代表了梅瑟一直称之为“不忠的子女”——以色列人（申32:5,20）。当然，并不是所有的以色列人，而是那些在言语上忠于盟约，然后把它们简化成外在的仪式，毫无价值的礼节，还坚信他们在上主前是正直的人，因为他们奉献了牺牲，也焚烧了供物，献上了祈祷。这在耶稣时代，是圣殿的司祭们和以色列人中的显要们践行的宗教信仰。

这一发现可能会导致一种危险的错觉，即这两个儿子是古代的人物，与我们无关。基督徒将是“第三个儿子”，就是那说“是”而又践行天父旨意的儿子。不过，让我们扪心自问：我们的信条、我们的声明、我们的正式立场、我们每天生活中的礼仪，产生了什么影响呢（今天去葡萄园工作吧！）？它们能终结仇恨、战争和暴行吗？在我们继续宣称自己是基督徒的时候，我们会不轻易过一种妥协的生活吗？

虽然存在第三个儿子，但是我们并不是那个孩子。圣保禄写道：只有“天主之子，耶稣基督”，并不是“是”而又“非”的，在祂只有一个“是”。“天主的 一切恩许，在祂内都成了‘是’”（格后1:19）。祂是那位一直说：“是的，父啊！你原来喜欢这样”（玛11:26）。

这比喻的结论是：税务员和妓女在你们以前进入天主的王国。“税吏和娼妓”知道自己远离了天主，并没有自我欺骗地践行天主的旨意。他们意识到自己说了“不”，并没有尝试用履行他们自己发明的戒律来愚弄自己。他们并没有用与真正信仰毫无关系的做法来安抚自己的良心。他们意识到是穷人、软弱者、需要帮助的罪人，使他们易于首先接受天主的恩赐。

文本来源：雅颂福传

译者：天心神父