December 13, 2016
Tuesday,
3rd Week of Advent
1st Reading:
Zep 3:1-2, 9-13
Gospel: Mt 21:28-32
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people, “What do you think of this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said to him: ‘Son, today go and work in my vineyard.’ And the son answered: ‘I don’t want to.’ But later he thought better of it and went. Then the father went to the second and gave him the same command. This son replied: ‘I will go, sir,’ but he did not go.
“Which of the two did what the father wanted?” They answered, “The first.” And Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you: the publicans and the prostitutes are ahead of you on the way to the kingdom of heaven. For John came to show you the way of goodness but you did not believe him, yet the publicans and the prostitutes did. You were witnesses of this, but you neither repented nor believed him.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Today’s Gospel deepens the meaning of the parable of the hired workers (Mt. 20:1-16) where a master paid all laborers equal salaries regardless of the number of hours worked. Because God’s mercy is dynamic the past is not prejudicial to a repentant person. In the parable of the two sons the disobedient one who later shaped up won the Gospel’s commendation. God evaluates men not the way men evaluate their own kind. The past cannot tie the merciful hands of God. God is results oriented. As in the case of the fig tree in Matthew 21:18-22, he is happy enough to find fruits in us on the day of his visitation.
People wrongly conclude that if God looks at the ending, conversion can wait. This conclusion can lead to procrastination. It is dangerous strategy to indulge now and repent later, for we do not know how much time we have. Our life is seventy or eighty for those who are strong (Psalm 90:10). Eighty years pass swiftly, and this verse is not even to be taken literally. Many in fact have died at a tender age.
Even if we still have enough time, we are not computers that can be reformatted anytime to delete past inputs. Man is by nature resistant to change. Our past will always have “remanent” effects on the present. Like eyes accustomed to darkness, which must be slowly introduced to the light, a bad person cannot just barge into the halls of morality without traumatizing his system. The trauma can break him down and defeat the very purpose for which the transition from evil to good is made.
If we must move from evil to good the time to make the transition is now. God can wait but time cannot. When the waiting is over, make sure faith is already there. (Luke 18:8). -(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM., MAPM., MMExM., REB., Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
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