26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A); October 1, 2023

Ez 18:25-28. Ps 25. Phil 2:1-11. Mt 21:28-3

 Deacon Jim McFadden

In a past  issue of the Catholic Herald(September/October 2020), the newsmagazine for the Diocese of Sacramento, there is a gripping story of Eliza Cobos, who had an abortion at age 18. Looking back at those frightening days

when she was deliberating whether she was going to keep the baby or not, she “ultimately succumbed to peer pressure and had the abortion.” She carried this

dark secret into adulthood and it wasn’t until she dropped off her daughter at high school one day that she fully realized the gravity of what she had done.

While being raised in a muddled Catholic family, she was loosely tethered to her faith; consequently, wanting to obey God did not appear to be high priority.

Now, at the age of 47 Eliza looks back on her life and sees that while she may have given up on God, God never gave up on her. Through a succession of events, she reconciled her past and gradually grew in her relationship with Christ Jesus. Reading the article, one comes away that Eliza very much desires to say “yes” to God as she shares her story of healing and repentance with the Church community.

I thought of Eliza’s remarkable journey into the healing embrace of our Lord, when I reflected upon the parable a father who has two sons (cf. Matthew 21:28-32)  a familiar Biblical trope, who  go out into the vineyard to work. One says “no,” but, then thinking it over, does go to work. The second son initially responds affirmatively, but then reneges and doesn’t go to the vineyard.

The parable represents God’s personal address to each one of us that at the very core of who we are.   At our Baptism, as we were initiated into the  mystical Body of Christ, the Church, we were anointed priest, prophet, and king to go on a Mission to proclaim the Good News of salvation. At Confirmation, we are sealed in the Holy Spirit as we receive the seven Gifts, which empower us to fulfill our purpose. Being initiated, Jesus is saying to us, “I’ve got a Mission for you. I want

you to do something on my behalf. I’ve got some work for you to do in the vineyard. Will you do it?” This is a ground floor question because it addresses who we are at the most fundamental level of our being. How do we see

ourselves–according to the limited perspective of our secular culture or as God’s beloved daughter or son who yearns to do the Father’s will? 

            Both sons said “No” and we should not underestimate the import when we say “no” to God. When we’re addressed by God and we turn Him down, something breaks. God is the source of Life; indeed, Jesus identified himself with Life itself. When we say “no” to God, we’re basically turning our backs on Life. As the New Wave group, The Talking Heads, once sang,

          “We’re on the Road to Nowhere”:

            Come on inside

           Taking that ride to no nowhere

          We’ll take that ride….”

If we stay stuck in our obstinate “NO!” to God, we’ve embraced a path that leads to a dead-in, like a labyrinth with no exit. 

            So, that gets us to the nitty-gritty point:   there’s nothing more dramatic or important than how we answer God. It’s a decisive moment because if we say “no,” were tacitly saying, “My life is not about God, it’s about me. God is not the center of my life, I am.” When God addresses us and we say “no,” something has dramatically has gone wrong, off-kilter; moreover, we’ll be forever haunted until we get back into right relationship with God.

The Good News as we read in the story of Eliza and this parable is that repentance is always an option. Here’s a main take-away of this story: don’t ever give up. Don’t every say, “It’s too late for me because I’m  such a sinner; I’ve

really done bad things.” People of God, even the most hardened “No” can turn into a “Yes.” Just, look at the story of so many saints. As the saying goes, “Every saint had a past and every sinner has a future.”

Through God’s healing mercy and forgiveness, through his empowering and

“amazing grace,” we can return to God and say, “Yes, Lord I will serve you. I will

go into your vineyard right here, right now.   When we do, we’re gathering ourselves to be used as God’s instrument. That means a paradigm shift has happened. Once we make that commitment, there’s no turning back. We join with the prophet Isaiah and say, “Here I am, Lord, send me: (Isaiah 6:8). We’ve got to allow ourselves to be sent.

 So, here’s the spiritual question: Where do you stand in regard to God’s invitation? How are you taking spiritual responsibility?  May Mary Most Holy, who can melt the hardness of our hearts, move us towards repentance and commitment.  Amen.