Gospel Reading for December 15, 2015 (Tuesday)

Mt 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, "What is your opinion?  A man had two sons.  He went and said to the first, 'My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today.'  He answered, 'I will not go,' but afterwards thought better of it and went.  The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, 'Certainly, sir,' but did not go.  Which of the two sons did the father's will?"  "The first," they said.  Jesus said to them,  "I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him.  And yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did.  Even after seeing that, you refused to thing better of it and believe in him."

The Word in other words

Many parents, teachers and other guides of the young probably will smile of nod in recognition as they listen to this parable.  How often does a son/daugther or a pupil say "yes" to a request, and then go away and forget all about it!  Or, having initially said "no", then have a change of heart and finally obey.  This can be exasperating at times but it can also be amusing as Jesus turns it into a parable.  It seems he understands our frustrations as parents.

Jesus is a mater storyteller who uses colorful language to capture the hearer's attention.  However, I'm sure he does not wish merely to entertain us.  There is a deep lesson and challenge for us here.  If the man in the story is the heavenly Father, then all of us are his children.  If the scribes and Pharisees thought of themselves as being the obedient ones, then we- the churchgoers, members of parish organizations and prayer groups- may consider ourselves to be in that category now.  Yes, even those of us who are priests and religious could be caught in the same trap.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with being virtuous.  The problem is that it so often leads us to making harsh judgments against so-called "unvirtuous" or "disobedient".  Rather than rejoice at their conversion we can at times discover resentment within us that they are being so easily and joyfully accepted by the loving Father.  Or, without in any way justifying the wretched way of life of many of the "disobedient", we can find ourselves very distant from them and lacking in compassion as they cry to God in their desperation.  This is, in fact, our disobedience: to be satisfied with our own virtue and not do what God really wants of us.

The truth is that both sons in the parable are far from doing the father's will.  We all need to be lowly and humble in order to enter the Kingdom of God.  "Create for us a clean heart, Lord, that at your Son's coming this Christmas we may be found among the humble and lowly people who are worthy to become his sisters and brothers. (Columba Breen, OSB)

- Fr. John O'Mahony, SVD (DWST, Tagaytay City)

Gospel for December 14, 2015 (Monday) Feast day of St. John of the Cross

Mk 21:23-27

When he had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, "By what authority are you doing these things?  And who gave you this authority?"  Jesus said to them in reply, " I shal ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things.  Where was John's baptism from?  Was it heavenly or human origin?"  They discussed this among themselves and said, "If we say, 'Of heavenly origin' he will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'Of human origin,' we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet.  " So they said to Jesus in reply, "We do no know." He himself said to them, "Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."

In other Words

We cannot please everybody.  Indeed, no matter how much we do our best and no matter how good our intentions are, we still find people who cannot even express a simple appreciation for what we are doing.

In the Gospel for today, Jesus encountered another challenge to his authority from his  "favorite" dialogue partners - the Jewish leaders.  We have to understand that during the time of Jesus the culture of honor and shame was very strong.  Honor was a highly sought-after good.  This was one reason why the Jewish leaders didn't enjoy Jesus being around.  As Jesus gained reputation, they themselves were losing it. As a line of defense to uphold their own reputation, they had to question Jesus' identity and challenge his authority in public.

Jesus was very much aware of this.  In fact, he used the same weapon against his adversaries.  Knowing the intention of the Jewish leaders, he posed a challenging question that put them into a dilemma.  He turned the table on the Jewish leaders.  The burden of securing honor was now on their shoulder.  Since they could not afford to be humiliated in front of the crowd, they had to choose whether to be truthful or to take the safer course and lie; they chose the latter.  Their ego led them to compromise what was true on this pretext, "We do not know."

Often in our lives we are faced with a similar dilemma, and then we compromise the truth.  In our desire to always look good, envious of what others have done, greedy for power, wanting to get praise and honor, we end up guarding ourselves at the expense of others.  Worse, we compromise what is true and settle with the safer course of self-preference.

Jesus, in this season of Advent, is challenging us, first, to stay grounded and humble, and recognize the goodness of each other.  Goodness is not to be monopolized; rather, it is to be acknowledged and shared.  Then, as Christians, we are to stay truthful no matter what.  Truth is not to b compromised but to be lived and proclaimed in daily life.

- Fr. Mark Angelo M. Ramos, SVD (DWS-Tagaytay)