Change Your Mind -- Missionary Commentary for Sunday, October 1, 2023

Readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 18:25-28
Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Philippians 2:1-11 or 2:1-5
Matthew 21:28-32

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USCCB link to readings
 

Is humility the first step of discipleship? 

When you think of humility, what images come to mind? Do you think of a quiet, reserved, almost mousy type of person, keeping their heads down? Or do you think of a strong, confident, even arrogant, and defiant woman or man? 

Jesus corrects the chief priests and elders of the people in today’s Gospel by telling the parable of the two sons. At the heart of the story is obedience to God, not in lip service, but by working “in the vineyard.” This is what John the Baptist did and people – even tax collectors and prostitutes – believe him and changed their way. Something the chief priests and elders of the people were not able to do. And when they saw the fruit of John’s ministry – and the fruit of Jesus ministry – they would not change their minds. 

Humility is a state of being humble, down to earth, grounded in who we are and what God – not society, or our chief priests and elders, or even the fickleness of our passing fancies – is telling us to do. It is a state of active openness to the movement of the Spirit to follow the Lord wherever he leads. 

Today is the feast day for St. Therese of Lisieux, or “the little flower,” who is a patron saint of mission. She lived a cloistered life and died at a young age. She was known for her humility. She thought of it as an exuberant abandonment to the will of God, very much like a child running to her father with open arms reaching up in trust for the strong and tender lift into a playful hug. This abandonment, this humility, propelled her to mission through her short life as a nun, her writings, and her prayer. Perhaps this is what true humility looks like. 

All we need to do, like tax collectors, prostitutes, and Therese of Lisieux, is to change our mind. 

Notes on the Sunday Readings

First Reading
The Prophet Ezekial reminds us that the Lord is both just and merciful; the Lord is the way of justice, he is the source of virtue, it is his path that we must walk.

Psalm
The psalmist praises the Lord for teaching “me your paths,” for God’s compassion and kindness, and for “guiding the humble to justice.”

Second Reading
Saint Paul echoes the centrality of humility; the gifts of the Spirit, the unity of the Church, depends on our humility, a humility Jesus himself teaches us by his sacrificial love.

Gospel
God teaches his people the way of righteousness. Jesus teaches the “chief priests and elders of the people,” who are resisting his teaching, through the parable of the two sons, one who refuses the order of his father to “go out and work in the vineyard,” but then changes his mind, and the other who feigns obedience, responding quickly with “Yes, sir!” but does not go. Jesus then applies this parable to John the Baptist who came “in the way or righteousness,” and “tax collectors and prostitutes” believed him. Yet, when they saw the fruit of John’s ministry, accomplishing what they had failed to do, they refused to change their minds. Their pride, even in the face of their own failure, blinded them to God’s way of righteousness.

Notes and Commentary by Don McCrabb, D. Min., 
Executive Director of the U.S. Catholic Mission Association.


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