I was reading a story of a Covid denier who threw a party in June for his family, with none using masks or following any other protocols since he convinced them there was no virus. Within a few weeks the entire group that attended was sick and had begun to spread it to others. Several deaths followed. He himself slowly recovered from a long and painful infection. He not only regretted his actions but then became an apostle for convincing other deniers of the reality of the virus and the urgent need to follow all precautions. He published his story urging people to make the sacrifices now and stay the course. He was going to do what he could to convince everyone to stem the tide and spare others what his family suffered.
There is a difference between a change of mind and a change of heart. I can be convinced logically that my thinking or my position is not correct and begin to change that for myself. However, to change the heart is more than that. It is deeper and involves thinking and acting not just for me but for others as well. It involves an attitude of charity, of giving or sacrificing for the greater good, not just for me. It is really to ask myself what does God want?
The gospel parable takes place in a vineyard like last week. The vineyard is an Old Testament symbol of God’s people, Israel, and also refers to the reign of God. It is about using the vineyard for the place where I can live a changed life, as I harvest grapes that will also change into something that gives pleasure to others. We are not talking about getting drunk. We are talking about starting anew always at God’s invitation. God brings a vine out of Egypt to start God’s people anew in the Promised Land, just like cuttings were brought from Italy and France to California to begin anew in making wine. Noah is the first to plant a vineyard after the flood, reestablishing the people and starting humanity all over. There are always possibilities to change, to start again in the reign of God.
At the same time there are warnings throughout the Hebrew Scriptures about a vineyard that does not give good grapes. This refers to people who were unfaithful, who only think of number one. They bring judgement upon themselves.
The parable is about two sons, one refusing at first to do what his father asked and then changing his mind to do it, while his brother tells the father he will obey and does not. The context of the parable is Jesus’ ongoing conflict with the religious leaders of his time. They condemned him for reaching out to the rejected of society and those considered sinners. At the same time they refused to listen to what both he and John the Baptist were saying about the call to repentance and reception of the coming Messiah. As we have said, Matthew is also writing for Jewish Christians who were discouraged that only a minority of Jews had accepted Jesus as the Messiah and joined the Christian community.
The story is really about forgiving those who repent, who have a change of mind. Can we accept them, reach out to them and give them another chance as God does? Can we also admit that we need to repent and change? Why do we so quickly judge and condemn others, thinking we are better, when there is so much we need to change in our own lives? As the second son, we often say one thing and do nothing. I am too cozy, too comfortable and it would be too much to think about changing. Some silly virus will not affect my nice life.
Matthew moves us toward a more serious commitment, which gets deeper over the next three weeks. Actions are what are needed. Talk the talk, but will we walk the walk? Matthew’s question throughout the gospel is, “What do I do with this?” A good way to answer is to follow what Paul tells the Philippians in the second reading, “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.” It is an attitude of service, humility and obedience in giving his life for us. A tall order but a serious challenge to each of us who say we follow Jesus.
This parable is only found in Matthew. Jesus is in Jerusalem, before his passion, stirring up the city, and confronting Jewish leaders. There is lots of tension. The Jewish leaders challenge Jesus’ authority. Before this story, Jesus asks them about John the Baptist’s baptism, whether it was of heavenly or human origin. They refuse to answer since they had rejected his call to repentance. They give a political answer which is no answer. The issue is not Jesus’ authority but how one responds to God’s call to repentance and invitation into the Kingdom. They were using the question of authority as a smoke screen so as not to embrace the call to repent, even as they see the results of Jesus calling sinners who did repent.
The first son represents those who come to Jesus, the tax collectors and the sinners who were converted by John the Baptist. Jesus always reached out to them because they knew they were sinners and thus needed to repent. The second son represents the Jewish leaders who say they are faithful and had initially given assent to God’s message, but reject Jesus. It is like we are when we faithfully attend church but then fail to see Jesus in the face of the homeless, the refugee, the one who does not look or act like me. Those authorities actually witnessed the conversion of the sinners and tax collectors, but were not moved by that. It was unthinkable to the Jewish leaders that the lower levels of society would enter the Kingdom and they be excluded. Again this was meant to urge early Christians to accept people not like them, the Gentiles, moving toward the Church while the Jewish leaders did not.
The second son’s “Yes Sir” reflected the religious leaders’ predetermined understanding of God’s message and they stayed there. They were stuck in their concept of God and not willing to move. It was not a lack of knowledge but of trust in God. God had to fit in with their concept and not the other way around. They were not open to the constant call of conversion of heart that we all receive.
One thing is a change of mind, but the other is a change of heart. To say the right thing to HONOR the request but DO nothing was not the OBEDIENCE to the Father’s will. The best response would have resulted in ACTION. That is what Jesus is asking us to do.
The story of the Covid denier is a story of not only regretting mistakes but learning from them and reversing them to the best of our ability by a change of heart. It is a story of conversion, which demands action to go in God’s direction.
Parables are tough stories that often shock or convict the listener. In this case are you son number one, who realized he was wrong to reject his father’s call and he needed to change, then took action to make it right? Or are you son number two, who thinks he has no need to change and pays lip service with no intention to ever follow through? Parables force you to write your end to the story. Which are you? What do you do?
We don’t ever fully understand God. We must listen to God, respond to God’s calls and then follow through with the confidence that God always knows to request from us what is best for us. Working in the vineyard is living our lives to help bring about the reign of God here on earth while we await our final call to live in the Kingdom of Heaven.
It is the heart that answers God’s call. It is never too late to change, be our best selves, answer God and do the right thing.
Fr. David Garcia is a retired priest from the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas, where he served for 44 years. During that time, Fr. Garcia was instrumental in the effort to have the Old Spanish Missions recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also oversaw the multimillion-dollar restoration of San Fernando Cathedral. Fr. David served as pastor for several parishes in San Antonio, including the historic Mission Concepción. He also served as Senior Advisor for Clergy Outreach at Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian and relief agency of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.