This Sermon is prepared by
Rev.Fr.Peter Jayakanthan sss
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Corpus Christi Catholic Church,
Houston, Texas, US
26th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Yes… From the Head! …or…. From the Heart!!Ez18:25-28; Phil 2:1-11; Mt21:28-32Dear Sisters, Brothers and Children, we thank God for the gift of life, for the privileged family and for all the precious possibilities He has provided in order to live and proclaim His glory in this world. We are called to respond constantly with a great Yes from our heart. This yes is commitment, decision of conviction and leading to many yes’s in our life. We shall allow the scripture to speak to our hearts and enkindle the spirit of proclaiming the good news.Last week’s voting results from Scotland created numerous comments in the media. One such said, it is the struggle between Yes and No, which means it is a battle between head and heart. Young minds with all the growing technology wanted to be an independent nation, so their head said ‘yes we need independence’, but the elders who are so used to hundreds of years traditional attachment did not want to depart from their origin or root. So, their heart said ‘no to independence’. We come across so many yeses and no’s in our daily life. We make a life commitment in marriage, saying ‘yes’ in good times and bad times… We say yes to faith as a responsible parent in Baptism… We say yes as we grow-up to the choice of education… We say yes to various skills and sports… We say yes to friends …we say yes to our career….. Are we strict to all the yeses in our life? Do we stay with our marriage promise? Are we stable in our catholic faith? Do we keep changing our schools and careers? Do we keep changing our friends every time we experience difficulty? If we stayed with our yes, those yeses are from our hearts. They emerged from our commitment and responsibility. Because yes is not a variable from day to day, rather it is a call to yes every day and every time. It is not one day or one moment yes. It is a daily yes. If we did not succeed after saying yes, those yeses are from the mind, and must not have come from conviction, but out of attraction and not out of seriousness. It was a temporary yes which may change any time to a no, as the mind keeps changing. It lacks commitment and responsibility. The readings of today invite us to have our yes response from our head and every day. In the first reading we have the prophet Ezekiel; He confronted two belief thoughts and excuses of the people of Israel, calling them to own their responsibility with a daily yes to God. What were those belief systems? And where did they come from? The constant cries of the people were “the Lord’s way is not fair”. They believed and expressed that their life in exile as slaves under Babylonian rule, were due to the sins of their ancestors. Secondly, they understood that their sufferings were the result of their past sins. They saw God who punishes the children for the sins of the parents. “Fathers have eaten green grapes, thus the children’s teeth are on edge” (Jeremiah 31:29, Ezekiel 18:2). The Prophet Ezekiel challenged them to own responsibility for their life, faith and situation. He pointed out that their unfaithfulness demanded the strong commitment of yes to Yahweh. So stop saying God is not fair, and start saying yes from your heart with loyalty to God; this is the invitation of the prophet to the people of Israel. Matthew, the Evangelist, situates today’s parable of Jesus among the chief priests and elders who were questioning the authority of Jesus quoting the Mosaic laws. They said yes to the laws of Moses ritually, but their hearts constantly said no to the needs and struggle of the people. Jesus warned them saying, your yes from your legalistic mind will not get you into God’s kingdom; rather those to whom you said no, the Tax collectors, the sick, the sinners and the Samaritans, will enter into the kingdom of God. Here the first son who says no yet changes his mind and attends to the call willingly and responsibly, represents a person of commitment and is a person of performance and practice. The second son who said yes from the head and failed to go, represents the chief priests and elders, who just made many promises without any practical act of charity. They believed in empty sacrifice, rather than compassionate help to the needy. Jesus warned them that a Promise can never replace the performance and practice. Practice results from a constant yes, coming from a sincere and compassionate heart. The Tax collectors and the marginalized experienced conversion and responded with a constant yes to God’s call in a community of fraternity and equality. We are called to say yes to God not only on Sundays but yes on week days too. Whenever I ask couples how long they have been married, most of them say 20 years, 35 years and 55 years counting their years together. But only a few respond that we are married forever. This shows their deep commitment and responsibility to each other, giving life to the meaning of this sacrament that God intended. The yes we say every day in our family life cannot be counted; likewise, the years cannot be counted, because it is forever. Pope Francis during his visit to Albania on last Sunday 21st September, he met with priests, religious, seminarians and members of ecclesial lay movements at St. Paul’s Cathedral. He listened to the witnessing testimony of Fr. Simoni a 84 year old priest, he said under communist regime, he was imprisoned, tortured and given death sentence later given 28years of forced labor during which he celebrated Eucharist, offered confessions and gave communion in secret. He witnessed cruel killing of dear priests and he shed blood surviving death on many occasions. He was able to say yes daily every time till today. Pope Francis with tears in his eyes embraced this only surviving priest of terrible communist persecution, who wished Pope Francis to lead great flock with good health and strength. I feel so affirmed after a long day of visits at work in the hospital ministry when someone said, thank you Fr, for saying yes to your call. I respond to them, Thank you so much…I continue this renewal of yes every day in my commitment to the Lord and to His people-Amen. 
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