First Reading: Ezekiel 18:25-28 

Second Reading: Philippians 2:1-11

Gospel: Matthew 21:28-32

 

To the penitent, who were capable of recognizing that they are‘sinners’the Lord reserved forgiveness and addressed this word, which is one of those hope-filled words of the Old Testament: “he will most certainly live: he will not die”.

 

Humility, poverty and trust in the Lord are the three characteristics of the faithful People of God. And this is the path of salvation. The others, however, heard no voice, accepted no correction, and did not trust in the Lord, and therefore they cannot receive salvation: they are closed to salvation.

 

A similar proverb is found in the day’s Reading from the Gospel of Mathew (21:28-32), in which Jesus also proposes to the chief priests, to the elders of the people, to the entire network’ of people who waged war, a judgment to reflect upon. 

 

He presented the case of the two sons whom the father asks to go to work in the vineyard. One answers: “I won’t go to the field. I don’t want to”. But then he goes. Meanwhile the other says: “Yes, sir”, but then thinks: “The old man has no strength, I’ll do what I want, he can’t punish me”. And therefore, “he doesn’t go, he doesn’t obey”.

 

Jesus asks his interlocutors: “Which of the two did his father’s will?”. Was it “the first, the one who said ‘no’”, the rebellious one who later “thought of his father” and obeyed, or was it the second? 

 

At this point Jesus offers his judgment: “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you”. 

 

They “will be the first”. And He explains: “‘When John came… you did not believe him…You didn’t listen to John: the baptism of penitence.... The tax collectors and prostitutes…believed. You…saw …but then you didn’t repent a bit”.They didn’t listento the Lord’s voice, they didn’t accept correction, they didn’t trust in the Lord. 

 

One could ask: “But what a scandal that Jesus said this, that the tax collectors, who betrayed the homeland because they collected taxes to pay the Romans”. Will they really “go first to the Kingdom of Heaven?”. And the same for the prostitutes.

 

We can say “Weare Catholics, we go to Mass, we receive Communion”. And yet they will go first if our heart is not a contrite heart. And if we had not listened to the Lord, haven’t accepted the correction, haven’t trusted in Him, then ours is not a contrite heart.

 

The Lorddoesn’t want the hypocritePharisees who were scandalized by what Jesus said about the tax collectors and about the prostitutes, but then secretly went to them, whether to unleash their passions or to do business. They considered themselves pure. But the Lord doesn’t want them.

 

Today’s liturgy makes us think about this judgment which is a judgment that gives us hope when we look at our sins. Every one of us is well aware of our list of sins. Each one of us can say: “Lord, I offer You my sins, the only thing that we can offer You”.When we are able to say: “Lord, these are my sins, they aren’t this man’s or that woman’s.... They’re mine. You take them. This way I’ll be saved”. When we are able to doing this, then we will be that beautiful persons — the humble and poor people — who trust in the name of the Lord.