Our world is used to viewing especially human persons according to ranks and first impression; based on position and initial response, and whatever criteria. And we cannot avoid that. In fact, in some instances, it serves a purpose. But we are reminded by the readings of this Sunday that when it comes to our relationship with God, it is our repentance; our conversion in word and in deed that really matters.

In the first reading from Ezekiel, we hear an attitude being expressed which I think is common not only during that time among the Israelites but also even today. Some people were quite incredulous of the message of Ezekiel. They were contesting this: They said “the Lord’s way is not fair!” God is unfair! How come when a virtuous man; someone known to be virtuous; someone known to be close to the temple, the synagogue; someone who exercises the faith, if this virtuous man turns to sin and dies then he will be punished for his sinful deeds? But how come a known sinner who changes and becomes good in the eyes of God when this person dies, he will be rewarded? The complaint of Israel to God was: have you forgotten that that person used to be virtuous; and have you forgotten that this second person is a sinner and now he will be rewarded because he changed his life? How come a virtuous person could end up in hell for something wrong that he had done? And how come a known sinner could be rewarded if he changes; if he repents of his evil ways? It seems that Israelites were counting on reputations, first impressions and positions; but God looks at the repentance; the conversion of heart and the deeds. God sees not the ranks but the heart that turns to him and the action coming from it. As saint Paul presents the example of Jesus Christ in the second reading. If Jesus had clung to his rank as the son of God, then the story would have changed. But no, he emptied himself; he became a humble human being.

Our gospel from saint Matthew depicts a conversation between Jesus and the chief priests and the elders. Remember the chief priests and the elders are the known and respected religious leaders at the time of Jesus; experts in the law, and they were very meticulous. In fact, they played the role of being the judge of what is pure and impure; of what is befitting for a follower of God. And to them Jesus addressed a parable which we all know about the father with two sons. He, the father told the first son to go to the vineyard and work. The first son said “YES” “OPO” “Si” “OUI” but did not go to the vineyard; he did not work. The second son said “NO” “Ayaw ko,” “En,” I will not go and work in the vineyard; but along the way he repented; he changed his mind and went to the vineyard and worked. Now Jesus asked the chief priest and elders who of the two sons did the will of the father? And they all agreed it was the second; the one who first said “NO” but had a repentance and acted on it. He worked in the vineyard.

But Jesus puts further a parallel in the story. He said the first son who looked good to the father and to the eyes of the rest are like the chief priests and the elders. In the eyes of many, they were the ones who were close to God; who were protecting the commandments; protecting the temple; but he says you are not doing God's will. You did not believe in John the Baptist; you did not respond to the call of repentance of John the Baptist; what you were clinging on to was your position and your reputation as religious leaders and experts.

Whereas, similar to the second son are the tax collectors, the public sinners, the prostitutes, those who were declared by the chief priests and the scribes and the elders as ritually impure should be avoided. But they were the ones who listened to John; they repented. So, they might enter the kingdom of heaven before the chief priests.

Again, God sees not the ranks, position and first impression but the heart that turns to him and the action coming from it. What God is looking for in us is not our initial response, the particular disposition in which he first happens to find us on approaching us, whether apparently good or apparently bad. God is interested, rather, in what we will do with our freedom in the long run. Good intentions and a positive attitude are highly desirable assets in our relationship with God and neighbor, but only if they do not mask an inner state of indifference and even resistance to communion of heart.

Thus, the Parable of the Two Sons, brief as it is, brilliantly exposes the chronic tensions in human life between saying and doing, appearance and reality, manifest intention and actual realization, and it also stresses the gradual nature of the process of spiritual growth.

The parable talks about two sons. But we are to follow or imitate neither of them. Rather, we follow and imitate the third son, the one who said “YES’ and then fully obeyed the Father. This third son is Jesus. Saint Paul describes him in his Second letter to the Corinthians: “The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was never Yes and-No; his nature is all Yes” (2 Cor 1:19, NJB), and as Jesus himself reveals it to us in his perpetual exclamation: “Yes, Father!” The readings are also a reminder to those of us who think that our rank; our connections, our titles assure us of closeness to God. There is a call for humility, putting on the mind of Christ; we need conversion to God's ways especially to Jesus's ways and action: action of faith; action of obedience to God. It is this conversion of mind and heart towards the humility of Christ that will make us truly a community of peace, of solidarity and love.