Homily: 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Friends,
there are a couple of points in today’s readings that are so fundamental to who
we are as human beings and as Christians that we might overlook them if we’re
not paying attention. The two points are
this: 1) That human beings can, and often do, change; and 2) The essential
nature of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Let’s take some time now to examine the readings on these points.
In
the reading from the prophet Ezekiel, the prophet (speaking the Lord’s words on
his behalf) is arguing against the people’s complaint that “the Lord’s way is
not fair”. Then, when we hear the rest
of the reading, we hear that the Lord’s way follows our understanding of God’s
just mercy: if a person commits sin, but repents and amends his life, he will
be forgiven; if a person who is not prone to sin nonetheless commits sin and
does not repent and amend his life, he will not be forgiven. This seems fair to us, right? I mean, it’s certainly how we hope we would
be treated! Yet, the people of the time
claimed that this wasn’t fair. Why? Well, I can’t say definitively (and there were
many cultural reasons behind this), but my sense is that one of the prominent
reasons was an inability to recognize a person’s capacity to change and, thus,
to forgive and be reconciled.
Then,
in the Gospel reading, we read as Jesus engages the “chief priests and elders
of the people” and proposes to them the hypothetical situation of the two
sons. The priests and the elders respond
to Jesus’ inquiry with the obviously correct answer: the son who did his father’s
will is the one who actually did what
his father asked of him, regardless of his initial response. Jesus then uses this to highlight that the
priests and the elders seem to be lacking on the two fundamental points we’re
talking about: they refuse to recognize that people can, and often do, change
and the essential nature of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Friends,
this is a fundamental message for us because it is easy for us to overlook: and
this for two reasons. 1) Because we see
ourselves as fundamentally “righteous” and so many others as “wicked”, with no
chance to change from one to the other.
2) Because we believe that only we ourselves are capable of change, not
everybody else. Thus, we ourselves
desire the ability to be forgiven and reconciled, but others shouldn’t really
get it. Now, I know that this is an
overgeneralization and that most of you here are probably saying to yourselves,
“No, that doesn’t sound like me”, and you’re probably right. But I’m going to invite you to imagine a scenario
that might point to the fact that these attitudes dwell within you.
When
someone hurts us directly, especially when that hurt involves a betrayal of
trust, how hard is it for us to acknowledge that a person can change and repent
from this act (or acts) that hurt us and, thus, become capable of receiving
forgiveness and reconciliation? While we
certainly would hope that a merciful attitude would be shown to us should we be
the culprit of this behavior, in real life, it’s often hard to show that mercy
to those who have hurt us, even if they show signs of repentance and amendment.
Yet,
this is the fundamental message of the Gospel, isn’t it? That even when humanity (beginning with Adam
and Eve in the Garden) said, “Yes, sir” to God’s will, but then refused to do
it, God did not “sign us off” as unredeemable.
Rather, he sent his Son (himself God) to become one of us—that is, to be
close to us—to declare to us that God’s
forgiveness is available to us when we choose to repent and amend our lives. Jesus—God in human nature—then suffered
innocently to pay the price for our sins: thus, redeeming our refusal to follow
God’s will and unlocking for us the fullness of reconciliation.
Friends,
this is what we celebrate here at Mass!
That we are not hopeless! In
giving thanks to God for the redeeming sacrifice of his Son, Jesus, we are also
implicitly giving thanks that change is possible and, thus, that forgiveness
and reconciliation is possible. Just
think for a moment how hopeless our lives would be if this wasn’t
possible! If we recognize this, then we
have to ask ourselves, “Why do I sometimes refuse to acknowledge this in my
daily life?” In other words, “Why do I
refuse to acknowledge that a person can change and so be ready to offer
forgiveness when he/she shows signs of repentance and amendment?” or “Why do I
refuse to believe that there may be common ground on which I can meet and be
reconciled to persons who behave/think very differently than me?”
Friends,
the Gospel challenges us “change our minds”—or, better yet, to “go beyond our
own thinking”—to think and feel with the mind and heart of God. To that end, grace—God’s divine power shared
with us—is given to us to help us overcome the weaknesses of our pride and our
natural defensiveness. As we rejoice and
give thanks at this Mass that God has made it possible for us to repent and to
receive forgiveness, let us open our hearts to the power of Jesus that we
receive in this sacrament and so boldly go forth to be alter Christi, “other Christs”, in the world: to proclaim this
truth and to build God’s kingdom by our acts of forgiveness and reconciliation
with those around us.
Given in English and Spanish at St. Mary Parish: Union City,
IN
October 1st, 2023
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