A man has two sons...
This isn’t the only parable by Jesus that begins this way! The other one is more famous and we often refer to it as “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” or “The Parable of the Lost Son.” Both sons in that parable can invite quite complicated discussion. It is not so simple as it seems.
And yet today’s parable, also about sons, might seem almost too simple to dwell on. A father tells two sons in turn to go and work in the vineyard. One refuses at first but then changes his mind and goes. The other immediately agrees but then does not go to work. What on earth is there to say about this?
I suggest that the parable might actually be quite challenging. Could it be suggesting to us that some people give the correct answers and say the right things as far as faith is concerned, but then when it actually comes to living the faith and putting belief into action, nothing really happens?
And likewise, could it be also suggesting that there are some people who appear not to have faith and even to refuse a belief in God, and yet when they go about the business of their everyday lives, they actually put faith of a sorts into action?
Certainly, the parable draws a distinction between what we say and what we do. We could apply it to being here at mass this weekend. We stand, sit and kneel as we should. We sing. We say sorry in the penitential rite, we profess our faith in the creed and we receive Our Lord in Holy Communion. But is all this lived out in our daily lives through the week?
Altar servers in the parish pray before mass: “Go before us, O Lord, in this our sacrifice of prayer and praise, and grant that what we say and sing with our lips, we may believe in our hearts, and what we believe in our hearts, we may practise and show forth in our daily lives.” Now and again I remind them that this means that the reverence and service that they observe on a Sunday, is called for on Monday to Saturday as well.
So, a man had two sons. Which of the two sons are we most like at the moment?
God bless, Fr Kevin.
