Homily from the Parish Priest for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ezekiel 18:25-28; Philippians 2:1-11; Matthew 21:28-32
Mount Street Gardens are, I think, one of the real treasures of London. We are really blessed here, the Jesuit Community, to live right next to this beautiful space. During the lockdown I certainly appreciated it, and in doing so, am very aware of those who had very little space around them, no green space, and while thinking that, no company either. I’m hearing so much these days now how many people are frustrated, lonely, fed up with the continuing and fast changing restrictions of this time when – and this is most important surely – we have to be responsible to protect others, especially the elderly and vulnerable.
The other side of things right now is I’m also hearing people say they are more grateful for life at this time. I’ve been in various conversations in which people have said there must be something to learn from this, especially regarding our very identity as human beings, our interdependency with each other, the need to come together as community, and the need to renew our commitment to care for the earth itself and not plunder it. Good coming out of a tragic situation. And at the heart of it a wake-up call. A call to recommit: to reflect on who we are, what we’re doing here, the “why” of it all, and looking into our hearts asking ourselves what we commit to.
A mixed bag. A mixed bag of human emotions. And the question of discerning what is good and true amid tragedy and evil, amid a world where there are shadows of inauthenticity and fake narratives. And the human spirit is found there in the middle grappling with it all. Commitment to what is good and true is never a simple choice. It’s more often than not tinged ever so slightly and it seems harmlessly with dishonesty, with prevarication, with conditions, arising from frustration, envy, anger, the bad spirit as Ignatius would call it. “Yes” is actually the hardest word if we mean it unconditionally.
Today’s Gospel then is a gentle but firm wake-up call to all of us. The man in the vineyard says in reply “yes”. Yes, I’ll work in your vineyard – I’ll follow you and build up your Kingdom – of course I will: I’m a good person who wants to please and to help and to spread God’s love and justice through my life – because I believe in Jesus and his teaching and its relevance to people around me whom I want to minister to- I’ll sign on the dotted line – I’ll say “yes” – along with the others. But the real test comes in the follow-through. The proof of our commitment is what I do in the vineyard itself when, if we examine ourselves more carefully, our “yes” can all too easily become an unwritten but thinly disguised “no”.
“No” because I bear a grudge against a member of my family or community. “No” because right now I’ve got to concentrate on my work and to get ahead. I’ve got to be ruthless with her or him despite the fact they’re struggling right now. I’m still a good Christian but my “yes” shouldn’t get in the way of my career. Or “no” perhaps quite honestly, quite realistically, because I’m just not sure if I believe in it all anymore, with all the wrong done by Christians, secrecy, cover-up. “Yes” to care for the environment but not if it gets in the way of my lifestyle. In fact it’s not going to affect me. The catastrophe will come 100 years or more from now. Well, in fact it’ll be much much closer than that. Today Jesus is inviting us to make a difficult choice because he knows how it’s so much easier to sign up than to follow through in difficult times. It’s so much easier to give so much of ourselves and be satisfied than to give 100%.
But there’s more to today’s parable more than just meaning what we say and following through. What of the other son who said he would not go to work in the vineyard yet changed his mind and went? Maybe this is the son who was honest: maybe he reflected, he thought, and he decided: “no” – I simply won’t be able to work in your vineyard – due to my own doubt – due to my own grudges – my own ego – my honest answer is “no”. And then – only then – when he has faced his fear of total sacrifice - can he undergo conversion – can he allow God’s searching of his soul to be an unconditional “yes”.
As we own up to our own unwillingness Jesus asks us again today: “will you go and work in my vineyard today, at this time of crisis, at this change of era, at this time when you are asked to listen more carefully, discern more fully, act more authentically to rebuild the vineyard so others may discover the new wine awaiting us?”
Fr Dominic Robinson SJ