Ezekiel 18:24-28
Psalm 24:4-9
Philippians 2:1-11
Matthew 21:28-32
A CHANGE OF MIND
Man is free and has the natural propensity of changing his mind at any time. But it takes humility and great courage to change one’s mind or to move away from bad habits. In today’s first reading, God, through the prophet Ezekiel, makes the Israelites understand that to change one’s mind and do good is to live! For God deals justly with us, forgiving the sinner who repents, and rewarding the one who perseveres in doing good. Each of us is free, and thus responsible for his actions and inactions. And no one can be a prisoner of his past or that of his ancestors: we can change our life situation for better at any time.
In the gospel, we are presented with the parable of the two sons. The parable consists of a father who told one of his two sons to go and work in his vineyard. The son refused but later changed his mind and went. The second son accepted to go but did not show up. Obviously, the first son was the one who did the will of the father, whereas the second one only paid a lip-service.
In fact, our salvation requires a constant obedience to God’s will like Jesus. He was obedient to the Father till death, even death on a cross. Because of this, he has been exalted and given a name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord! Consequently, St Paul exhorts us to have the same mind as Jesus Christ, to take him as our model of selfless love and unconditional obedience to God.
We need to avoid greed, selfish ambitions and pride, and remain faithful in doing what is right. Again, as priests, religious, married people, workers in public offices, etc., we make promises or take oaths to express the seriousness we attach to what we want to be or want to do. Should we pause a bit and sincerely ask ourselves if we have been faithful, we will realize that some times, we broke our promises and failed to keep our word. But this is not the end of the story. We can still change and amend our ways! Let us remember: “it is only a fool who does not change his mind.”
May God bless and keep all of us. Amen
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