This Sunday’s Gospel puts a challenging question before us. Then again, most times we read the Gospel, we ought to feel challenged! Jesus tells a parable about two sons. They are both asked to work in the vineyard. One says no and, perhaps feeling guilty, later changes his mind and goes and does what he was asked to do. The other son says yes and
never actually does what he agreed to. He says the right thing, and it ends there. He offers ‘lip service’ only.
All of us have, at some point in our lives, agreed to do something and, in the end, not done it. In this parable, Jesus invites us to look at how we do this in our relationships with others, and especially in our relationship with
God.
Put more starkly: do we profess faith in Jesus, go to Church, and yet our actions show very little evidence of the faith we profess? Is there a gap between what I profess with my mouth and my actions? Our priorities, the daily things we do, are much better indicators of where our hearts really are. Our actions measure what we believe - rather than the
words we so freely speak.
The Indian human rights activist, who insisted on non-violence, Mahatma Gandhi, challenged Christians when he reportedly said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” He points to the gap between our words and actions.
Jesus is inviting us to take a good look at ourselves and notice the gaps between what we say and do. Sometimes, we do not consciously set out to say one thing and do another. It happens. We want to ask God now for the grace to notice how often this happens. We want God to make us aware of the contradiction between our words and actions so that, with grace, we can live congruently.
Take some time today to look at your life. Do you pay ‘lip service’ to your relationship with God? Can others see, through your actions, the faith you profess? Ask God to help you bring your words and actions into sync.
Reflections by Fr Russell Pollitt SJ
