Sunday,October 1, 2017 26th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Ezekiel 18:25-28 2nd Reading:
Philippians 2:1-11 Gospel: Matthew 21:28-32
JESUS went on to say to the chief priests and the 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)
The past is not prejudicial to a repentant person. In today’s parable of the two brothers the disobedient one who later shaped up won the Gospel’s commendation. The past cannot tie the generous and merciful hands of God. Consistent with this doctrine Jesus had told another parable to his listeners featuring a Master who paid all laborers equal salaries regardless of the number of hours worked (Matt. 20:1-16). This same doctrine finds support in today’s first reading from Ezekiel 18:25-28. It says that if an evil person turns away from his sinful life and dies, he will live forever.
Some people delay their conversion up to the last minute of their lives confident that when they finally shape up God will close an eye on their past and take pleasure on their last-minute conversion. Yes, God will always take pleasure in the conversion of sinners regardless of the gravity of sinfulness they had lived in the past. But postponing conversion could be a dangerous strategy. We are not computers that can be reformatted anytime. Our past will always have remanent effects on the present. Like eyes accustomed to darkness that 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 purpose of the transition from evil to good. Conversion is a process that takes time. What if by the time you decide to commence conversion it is already the eleventh hour?
God can wait but time cannot, and so God’s waiting can end. When the waiting is over, will he find faith? (Luke 18:8). If we must move from evil to good the time to make the transition is now. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM.