One of the customs in our parish is that we do not stray from the truth when we gather to worship. We do not do anything “fake” when we are in church. So, we do not allow plastic flowers, we do not allow pre-recorded music, and we burn beeswax candles (not battery-powered lights). These might sound like things hardly worth worrying about, but they do help us to stay rooted in our respect for (and practice of) authentic and true worship.
Things that are authentic and true are at the heart of the Scriptures for this Sunday’s Mass. Matthew 21, 28-32 presents us with a parable of two sons and their respective responses to their father’s requests. One says “yes,” but does not follow through. The other says “no,” but has a change of heart and gets to work. Like the second son in the Gospel story, we often say, “Yes! We’ll do that.” But we don’t follow through. And we repeat this pattern over and over again. We tell ourselves we are going to pray more. But we don’t. We have some bad habits we want to put an end to. But we don’t. We promise to be more generous with our time, our money, and our talents. But we are not.
This a problem as old as the parables of Jesus! We want to do the right thing… but we don’t. We want to change… but we don’t. We want to do more than just say “I will!” But we don’t. How can we break this cycle? What might get us at least to the level of the first son who said he wasn’t going to do what was asked of him – but then had a change of heart – and followed through? St. Paul gives us a clue to an answer is in Philippians 2, 1-11: “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus… who emptied Himself… who humbled Himself.” St. Paul leads us in that direction precisely so that we might become more authentic and true followers of Jesus. Will we come to Mass this weekend ready to follow his lead?
