Ritualized and Converted (Sunday, Week 26, Year A)

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When Jesus entered Jerusalem for His passion and death, He went to the Temple and drove out the money changers and all those who were buying and selling. As a reaction to that, the chief priests and the elders asked him, “What authority have you for acting in such a manner? And who gave you this authority?” By asking such questions, the chief priests and the elders projected themselves as if they have been truly obedient to God and presented themselves as those acting on God’s authority, as those who truly knew the mind and heart of God. It was within this tension that Jesus told them the parable (cf. Matt. 21:28-32) which we read today. 

Jesus narrated a story of two sons whose father instructed to go and work in the vineyard: one said NO to the father but later did as instructed; but the other said YES but failed to act. Which of them did the father’s will? Is it the son who said “yes”, but did not go to the vineyard; or the one who said “no”, but repented and went to work? The chief priests and the elders answered correctly: the second son. Jesus then dropped the “bombshell of truth”: Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots would enter the kingdom of God ahead of you because they changed their ways upon hearing John the Baptist’s call to repentance.

Just like most Jews, the chief priests and the elders proudly claimed that they have said “YES” to God. But, they ignored the message of repentance. By their lifestyles, the tax collectors may be said to have said NO to God but later listened to the message of repentance, repented and said YES. True obedience to God comes from conversion of the heart and doing God’s desires. Just like the elders and the chief priests, we can as well be guilty of saying YES to God while our hearts are far from Him. At our baptisms, we said YES to God. At prayers, we say YES to God. When we listen to or read the Word of God, we say YES to Him. But where are the practical actions of love and the fruits of repentance that should reflect our YES-commitments? A question that calls for sober reflection! 

Doing the will of God our Father or saying YES to Him does not mean performing the rituals of prayer and the sacraments. It does not mean having read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, spending hours in the church, giving huge sums of money for the building and maintenance of church buildings and so on. It is being truly converted and living out the commandment of love. 

Time and time again, the people of Israel refused to heed the voice of the prophets who simply told them what the Lord required of them: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (cf. Micah 6:8). Their repeated acts of blatant disobedience led them into exile. And having found themselves in exile, they lamented and complained bitterly that “the way of the Lord is not just” (cf. Ezek. 18:25). And the Lord responded through Prophet Ezekiel, “O house of Israel, is it not your ways that are not just? When a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is lawful and right, he shall save his life”. Maybe, the exiled people of Israel thought that “doing the will of God” was all about going to the synagogue, carrying the laws around and reciting them meticulously, offering prayers and sacrifices in the Temple, observing the Sabbath as the Law stipulated, and so on. No, they missed it. Doing the will of God must be seen in true obedience to God and a sincere conversion of heart.   

May we not be guilty of being merely “sacramentalized” and ritualized and not truly converted! If our religiosity is not clearly seen in acts of true repentance and sincere conversion of heart, then we must have to pause, reflect and begin a real journey of repentance and change of heart. It is high time we stopped deceiving ourselves. As we examine our consciences, we may have to ask ourselves: what are those concrete actions of love that show that we have truly repented?   

In Philippians 2:1-11, St Paul admonished the Philippians to have the mind and heart of Jesus: He emptied himself, did not count equality with God the Father; chose to be born in the likeness of men and having found himself in human form, He humbled himself and became obedient even unto death, even death on a cross. To have the mind and heart of Christ is to be truly converted. And this true conversion of heart must be clearly seen in our love for one another, being in full accord and of one mind, doing nothing from selfishness or conceit but in humility counting others better than oneself. We are the “Philippians” being addressed today; the message is for us.



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