Parable of the Two Sons

One of the things we have to do as Candidates to the diaconate is write a reflection (not a Homily yet!!) and when we lead night prayer we have to reflect on the coming weekends Gospel.  When I remember I will post them here. This was for Tuesday, September 26th, 2017.

This time around I was assigned the Parable of the Two Sons from Matthew 21:28-32.  These are my two boys so the ideas flowed pretty easily as to how to start this!

Matthew 21:28-32 Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not, ' but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, 'but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him."

When I looked this up in the bible I half expected to see it with a heading of “Kevin’s Two Sons” but alas, it was called the “Parable of the Two Sons” instead.  I won’t tell you which son is which in my family but I will tell you that this parable is about my two sons.  When I tell either of them to do a task like the dishes one will say “no, I’m going out...going to a friends house...can’t right now” but when I get back home the dishes are put away and the dirty ones are loaded into the dishwasher.  When I ask the other son to please do some task like the dishes his response will be “yup, ok, sure” and when I return home the dishes are not done, often times there are actually more dishes than when I left!  What son ultimately makes me happier?  Of course, the son who actually did the dishes pleases me more regardless of their initial response.

Jesus tells us this parable as the first in a trilogy of parables on judgment.  His audience is the chief priest and the elders and this parable is calling them out on the carpet.  The vineyard is a symbol for Israel. The sons represent a juxtaposition of two different kinds of Jews.

Playing the surprise role of the people who may not enter the Kingdom of God are the chief priest and the elders, the supposed leaders of the faithful! They are the ones who say “Sure, I’ll go work for you” and then do nothing.  

Playing the part of the faithful ones who will make it to the Kingdom of God are the outsiders, the prostitutes, and the tax collectors.  Not the way this cast was supposed to play out!    They are the ones that got off to a rocky start in their faith life but Jesus’ call to conversion worked for them and now they do the will of the father, they are the insiders with Jesus now.  It is this group that will enter the Kingdom of Heaven now, not the chief priests and the elders.  This is the one time I actually want to be grouped with the prostitutes and thieving tax collectors!

This also ties nicely into last week’s Gospel parable called the “workers in the vineyard” from Matthew chapter 20 where it doesn’t matter what time of day you go to work as long as you do the work before the end of the day, the reward is the same.  This week’s parable tells us it doesn’t matter if you refuse to work in the vineyard at first, it’s the fact that you finally do go to do the work that matters.

What role I would play in this story makes me wonder how many times I have been the “NO” son. One story quickly jumps out at me.  It was way back in 2007 when God put adoption on my wife’s heart.  She said yes right away, it would be the only way to guarantee a girl in our testosterone lopsided family.  My response was different, my heart was hardened and I said “NO”.  I was being selfish with my time, talent and treasures.  A lot of time spent in adoration -- praying -- listening -- together with gentle urging from my wife, finally on November 10, 2007, I changed my tune, I said yes and never looked back from that moment on.  I think God was pleased as He rewarded us with a beautiful daughter.  In hindsight, I wish my response was initially to trust in God and say yes but I ultimately became the “SON” who did the work in the vineyard. I don’t even want to consider what life would be like if I had said “YES” to God right away and then did nothing about it.

Our work in God’s vineyard isn’t always something as big as saying yes to adoption or answering the call to the Diaconate.  Instead, it is in the little day to day events, the moments where our church and our faith is being challenged in the office, at the coffee shop, a sporting event or even at a family gathering.  It is an ongoing task, we must always be “proclaiming” Jesus in one way or another, either by what we say or in how we live our lives. We must always be true to our faith and let our example proclaim Jesus.  

Here are some questions that we should all prayerfully ponder.   What work are we supposed to do in his vineyard today -- or tomorrow -- or this month -- this year?  Are we doing it?  Have we said no so far?  When will you say yes?  Have we said yes but have done nothing to make that happen?  Our goal needs to become the son or daughter who not only says yes, but meets the task at hand head on and accomplishes it.


I’d like to wrap up with a quote from Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: “The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will.”