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.” (Mt 21:28-31a)
I have shared this from time to time before. One of Bishop Grutka’s favorite phrases was “It’s not what you know, it’s what you show.” He always made it quite clear that we needed to show God’s love to our world by the words that we chose to spoke as well as by the deeds that backed up those words.
I am sure that Jesus would have approved of the constant use of that phrase because He, too, encouraged His people to love one another in word and deed.
Our words, however, are not always consistent with God’s law of love. Sometimes, our words are chosen because we are being selfish at that particular time. Just like the “obedient” son in today’s gospel, sometimes we first say “no”. We don’t really mean no. We want to say yes. However, at that moment, we find that we are a bit reluctant to say yes.
The hallmark of a true believer, though, is that we think about our responses and, when they are not the proper ones, we make amends for our responses and end up doing the right thing.
Of course, the opposite might also be true. Sometimes we say “yes” to God and then end up ignoring Him and doing what we want. This is not right at all and can lead us to trouble, especially if we repeat that over and over again. God has little room for liars and for disobedient children.
However, when we do our best to be obedient, when we repent for the wrongs that we have done, God is very pleased with us.
Jesus knew people’s hearts, that is for sure. And Jesus still knows His people’s hearts.
What’s in your heart?
FAITH ACTION: Are you going to be an obedient child today?