XXVI.O.T. Ezek. 18:25-8; Phil. 2:1-11; Mt. 21:28-32

Once there were two couples. Couple A -were married in a large, beautiful church ceremony. They pledge life-long faithfulness and love to each other in the moving words of their vows. However, their life together has been one of abuse -- both physical and verbal. They both have been unfaithful to each other.

Couple B- live together. They had no public ceremony. They signed no marriage license. They spoke no vows in the presence of witnesses. However, their life together is a loving and affirming relationship. They have remained faithful to each other.
Which couple would you say is doing the will of God?

Both need change of hearts -- couple A in the way they act towards each other and couple B in their attitudes about the importance of the words in a public ceremony.
This passage sets before us a picture of two very imperfect sets of people, of whom one set were none the less better than the other. Neither son in the story was the kind of son to bring full joy to his father. Both were unsatisfactory; but the one who in the end obeyed was incalculably better than the other.

In the parable of the two sons, Jesus’ listeners would immediately identify who the son was who said Yes and then did not go: it was most of themselves!  -  particularly the Pharisees.  They were the people of the Covenant who had said Yes to God.  The son who said No stood for the Gentiles, and also for outcasts such as tax-collectors and prostitutes.  But the point of the parable was to blow away that clear distinction.  What counts, he said, is not whether you say Yes or No, but what you do.  It was Jesus’ consistent teaching. 

This parable teaches that promises can never take the place of performance, and fine words are not substitute for fine deeds. Yes and No are not words we say but things we do.  A Yes that is said but not done is only an evasion.  This Faith was made for walking, not just for professing. 

Obedience is not an end, but a means-a means to express our love to God, and a means to increase our love for God. It is a catalyst in the process of loving God and becoming more like Jesus."

Ideal sons and daughters are those who say yes to their parents and then go on to do what is commanded. The real good man is the man in whom profession and practice meet and match.

There are people who think that the sole requirements are the recitation of a creed and attendance at a local church where there is no community and little fellowship. People who come to church every Sunday and say to God "Amen! We believe." They wear badges and medals as ways of professing their faith. But sometimes when it comes to proving their faith, they fall short.

We need to lead a responsible Christian life, saying “yes” to God. Each one of us is responsible to God for every one of our actions, and the just God will punish or reward each individual according to his or her actions.  As we do not know the moment death will strike us, our only guarantee of dying in God's friendship is to live in that friendship always, saying “Yes” to God in our deeds. We should become men and women who profess our faith in word and deed - knowing that, "Not all those who say to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Mat. 7:21). God is ever with us to strengthen us, and to pardon and lift us up again, if through human weakness we stumble on the road. God is calling us right now, inviting us to work in His vineyard, inviting us to say “Yes” to Him with our words and actions. Let us accept God’s invitation by resolving to put words into actions each morning before stepping out of bed; and by declaring interiorly that people will be able to identify us as followers of Christ simply by our Christian actions and not by empty words or pious gestures.

As we continue with this Mass where Jesus strengthens us in our resolve, let us ask for the grace not to say flimsy yes to what our faith demands but set out with a firm resolve on a path of Christian life that will witness to the real message of Christ through actions.