Homily

 HOMILY NOTES

FR. TERRY RYAN, CSP

MATTHEW 21: 28-32

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

Which son gave the proper response to the father’s request to go work in the vineyard?  The son who said, “Yes, sir,” but who did not go, is the one who gave the proper answer.  What?  Yes, in that culture, you honor the parent, the boss, the one in charge.  Above all, the parent must not be allowed to lose face.  So you simply say yes, or agree, and then you can go about your business.  Notice that the Fourth Commandment did not say, “Obey your mother and father.”  It said, “Honor your mother and father.”  That is the culture into which the commandments were established.  

But do we not all act this way?  We who worship, honor God by showing up at mass, but then whose agenda do we follow the rest of the week?  When I was young I was told to go to mass on Sunday or burn.  Nothing was said about being a racist, or a hoarder of stuff.  Jesus did not talk much about going to church/synagogue, but he did talk about loving your enemy and neighbor.  We go to worship and then go and do our thing.  I find this attitude in meetings of monks, priests, executives, workers of whatever sort, spouses, children/parent.  They all agree at face value, but then go off and do whatever they want giving good reasons why they do whatever it is they do.  We say yes to parents, spouses, teachers, partners, bosses, abbots, bishops, and thus honor them, with our yes, but go off and disobey by ignoring what they proposed and we agreed to do.  I hear people say they will do the recovery work proposed for their addiction and then go off and do as they please.  

Jesus did not ask about honor.  He asked about obedience.  Honor is easy.  Obedience requires the cross because it is generally what we do not want to do.  The son who said no was being honest.  This is the beginning of recovering the life you are meant to live in God’s creation.  Why?  Because later he could come up against his reasons for the no.  It is all grace at work.  He realizes that his good reason for saying no were just so much self-will run riot, selfishness, fear of not getting his agenda accomplished.  It is all about ego, and nothing about transformation.  But when he wrestles with this he realizes he is getting nowhere at a heart level.  He cannot change by his own power, but now he realizes that he needs God to help divest of all these interests that get in the way of genuine transformation.  He becomes obedient, not because it makes him feel better immediately.  We don’t flip that fast.  He obeys because that is the way to the death of the old self and the rising of the new self, the true self.  It is Calvary and Easter, and takes a lifetime of effort.  Let us begin.