26^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Cycle A)

Readings:
Ezekiel 18:25-28
Psalm 25:4-9
Philippians 2:1-11 (or 2:1-5)
Matthew 21:28-32

Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).

The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity; therefore, we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).

The Theme of the Readings: The Way to Salvation Through Humility and Repentance.
Today's readings invite us to think about the unfathomable ways of God's justice and mercy. The First Reading takes up the topic of personal accountability, the consequences of sin, and God's mercy to the repentant sinner. The prophet Ezekiel asked: "If the sinner must live with the consequences of his sins, what is the purpose of repentance?" The answer includes one of the most beautiful summaries of divine mercy in Scripture. God assures us that He is always ready to forgive the sinner who humbly repents, turns away from his sins, and restores his fellowship with God. In His mercy, God even promises not to remember the transgressions that the sinner committed and repented (Ezek 18:22).

Sin separates us from God, even the sins of a person who has formerly lived a virtuous life. The Responsorial Psalm relates that God teaches His ways only to the humble. Those with humble hearts are receptive to God's corrections and are ready to seek His forgiveness. Everyone who sins has the promise of forgiveness through repenting those transgressions and humbly seeking God's mercy.

In the Second Reading, St. Paul wrote that Christians should think about unity based on the Christian community's threefold experience with the Holy Trinity: Christ's gift of salvation, God the Father's love, and the Holy Spirit's guidance. Paul's appeal to Christian humility and obedience is rooted in what appears to be an ancient Christian hymn that focuses on Jesus's humility and self-offering demonstrated in His obedience unto death for the sake of our salvation.

In the Gospel Reading, Jesus confronted the religious leaders who opposed Him and His ministry in the Parable of the Two Sons. Sometimes, human pride prevents repentance, as in the case of the chief priests and elders to whom Jesus addressed His parable. Their failure to humble themselves prevented them from serving God's divine plan in acknowledging Jesus's Messiahship and His invitation to eternal salvation. We should all heed the same warning. In the obedience of faith, we must humbly submit ourselves to Jesus Christ and His Gospel of salvation as taught to us by Mother Church. We must not allow pride to harden our hearts so that we fail to come to repentance in the Sacrament of Reconciliation or close our ears to understanding the message of the Living Word, like the proud and hard-hearted chief priests and elders. A humble and contrite spirit pleases the Lord and provides a sure path on the journey to eternal salvation.

The First Reading Ezekiel 18:25-28 ~ Virtue and Repentance
25 Thus says the LORD: You say, "The LORD'S way is not fair!" Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? 26 When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. 27 But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed, and does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; 28 since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Our First Reading is from a passage in which the 6^th century BC prophet Ezekiel asked: "If the sinner must live with the consequences of his sins, what is the purpose of repentance?" The answer includes one of the most beautiful summaries of divine mercy in Scripture in which God promises His merciful forgiveness of one's sins and restoration to fellowship with Him through the repentance of a humbled spirit (Ezek 18:21-24).

To those Israelites who complained that God was not just in harshly judging the sins of a formerly virtuous person, God replied through His prophet that the sinful ways of the Israelites were unfair (verse 25). The punishment the Israelites suffered was because of their personal, unrepentant sins and the people's collective sins that led to God's just condemnation (verse 26). And yet, as Ezekiel assured the people in verse 27, God, in His mercy, is always ready to forgive the sinner who repents, turns away from his sins, and turns back to God (verse 28). In His mercy, God even promised not to remember the transgressions which the sinner committed and repented. Nor will God hold those repented transgressions against him: None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him; he shall live because of the virtue he has practiced (Ez 18:22).

God's forgiveness is uniquely tied to personal repentance, contrition, and conversion (turning back to God) in the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Penance. The Council of Trent quoted this passage from Ezekiel and related verses concerning the Sacrament of Penance:

"... at all times the practice of penance, in order to obtain grace and attain righteousness, was necessary for all those who fell into mortal sin, even those who sought to be washed clean by the waters of baptism, so that, when sinfulness has been purged and set to rights, they would detest any offense against God through their hatred of sin and the sorrow of their souls. Thus says the Prophet: Repent and turn from all your transgressions. Lest iniquity be your ruin (Ezek 18:30)" (Council of Trent, Session 14, 1).
"This Council declares that contrition encompasses not only the end of sin and the beginning of new life, but the reparation of the old, sinful life, as it was written: Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! (Ezek 18:31)" (Council of Trent, Session 14, 4).

Responsorial Psalm 25:4-9 ~ God's Compassion for the Humble
The response is: "Remember your mercies, O Lord."

4 Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.
Response:
6 Remember that your compassion, O LORD, and your love are from old. 7 The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not; in your kindness, remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD.
Response:
8 Good and upright is the LORD; thus, he shows sinners the way. 9 He guides the humble to justice and teaches the humble his way.
Response:

In this psalm attributed to David, the psalmist cries out to God, reminding Him of the just man who fears offending the Lord. In verses 4-5, the psalmist asks God to instruct him in His ways, acknowledging that salvation comes from Him. In His compassion for sinners, he asks God to demonstrate His love, kindness, and goodness by forgiving him for his sins (verses 6-7). He praises the Lord, who, in His divine goodness, shows sinners "the way" (verse 8).

In Scripture, "the way" is the path to salvation through obedience to the commandments of the Lord (Dt 30:15-16). God shows the sinner the path to reconciliation and guides the humble-hearted to righteousness, dispensing His justice to both. However, the humbled sinner must acknowledge his wrongs to the Lord to receive God's forgiveness. Jesus Christ fulfills the psalmist's petition for forgiveness and restoration. He is the righteous One who is for the humble sinner "the Way" to salvation; as Jesus said: I am the way and the truth and the life (Jn 14:6a).

The Second Reading Philippians 2:1-11 (or 2:1-5) ~ The Humility of Christ
1 If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. 3 Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, 4 each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others. 5 Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, 6 Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
7 Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, 8 he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

St. Paul wrote this letter to the church at Philippi in Greece from his prison cell in Rome (Phil 1:12-14). In our passage, he began by urging Christian unity (verses 1-5). The "one thing" we should think about (verse 2) is the unity based on the Christian community's threefold experience with the Holy Trinity: Christ's gift of salvation, God the Father's love, and the Holy Spirit's guidance (verse 1). Paul's appeal to Christian humility in verse 3 (and obedience later in verse 12) is rooted in what appears to be an ancient Christian hymn (verses 6-11) that focuses on Jesus's humility and self-offering demonstrated in His obedience unto death (verse 8). The short hymn, which rhymes in the original Greek, is divided into two parts:

Verses 6-8, where the subject of every verb is "Christ."
Verses 9-11, where the subject of every verb is "God."

6 Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
This verse is either a reference to Jesus's preexistence and the aspects of His divinity that He was willing to give up to complete God's divine plan in human form or to what the man Jesus, in His humanity, refused to grasp in His divinity. Many Biblical scholars, both ancient and modern, see an allusion to the story of Adam in the Book of Genesis. Unlike Adam, Jesus, the "second Adam," though in the form of God (made in God's image = Gen 1:26-27), did not reach out for equality with God, in contrast with the first Adam, tempted by Satan to eat the forbidden fruit so that your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods (Gen 3:5-6).

7 Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, 8 he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Instead of coming in His divine glory, Jesus divested Himself of His divinity to come humbly as a fully human man. Jesus's willingness to give up His life on the altar of the Cross manifested His obedience to the will of God.

9 Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Verse 11 reveals the "name" in verse 9 as "Lord" (Kyrios), a name that reveals His divine nature. In Greek translations of the Old Testament, the word Kyrios/Lord was a substitute for God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh). Verses 10-11 are reminiscent of what God told Isaiah: To me every knee shall bend; by me every tongue shall swear (Isaiah 45:23b). Philippians 2:10-11 is the reason we genuflect before the image of Christ and before His presence in the Tabernacle.

Paul's allusion to the Isaiah passage in verse 10 refers to the three levels of the cosmos according to ancient thought: heaven, earth, and under the earth. Paul's point in verses 10-11 is that God the Son has sovereign authority over all creation. "Under the earth" refers to Sheol (Hades in Greek), the abode of the dead to which the righteous and the wicked went after their individual judgments under the old covenants. In Sheol, the righteous attended the Banquet of the Just while waiting for the coming of the Redeemer-Messiah. However, sinners were punished for their sins and purified by the fiery love of God in preparation for the arrival of the Redeemer-Messiah (see Jesus's description of Sheol/Hades in Luke 16:33-26). After the disciples laid Jesus in the tomb, fulfilling His mission as the promised Redeemer, He descended to the dead, preached the Gospel of salvation, and then liberated them from the prison of the grave (1 Pt 3:18-20; 4:6; Apostles' Creed; CCC 632-35). Sheol continues as a place of purification that the Church calls Purgatory (1 Cor 3:13-15; CCC 1030-32) and will only cease to exist at the end of time at the Last Judgment (CCC 1038-41) when further purification is no longer necessary (Rev 20:13-15).

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This verse is the final doxology declaring that "Jesus Christ is Lord." It is an early Christian acclamation that the congregation may have called out during the Liturgy of Worship in proclaiming the divinity of God the Son. Paul used the same acclamation in Romans 10:9 and 1 Corinthians 12:3. The doxology concludes by giving praise and glory to God the Father, who exalted God the Son and raised Him to glory.

The Gospel of Matthew 21:28-32 ~ The Parable of the Two Sons
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: 28 "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' 29 He said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards, he changed his mind and went. 30 The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir,' but did not go. 31 Which of the two did his father's will? They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. 32 When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him."

The chief priests and elders, the leaders of the covenant people, opposed Jesus's mission to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God and the gift of eternal salvation. The chief priests were members of the ordained priesthood who were the descendants of Aaron, brother of Moses, and the first High Priest of Israel. The elders were the civil leaders who were part of the ruling hierarchy of the Old Covenant Church and represented the people in the Sanhedrin, the High Court (Ex 24:1-2,9-11; Num 11:16-17).

Jesus told the religious and civil authorities they failed to recognize St. John the Baptist as a righteous prophet of God by his works (verse 32), just as they refused to acknowledge Him and His God-ordained mission. Jesus used a parable to demonstrate the spiritual consequences of their failure and to teach them the meaning of obedience in serving the will of God as communicated by God's divinely appointed agents. In His parable, Jesus employed one of the four reoccurring symbolic images of the Old Testament prophets: the vineyard (see the chart on the Symbolic Images of the Old Testament Prophets). As a metaphor for Israel, the Old Testament prophets used the vineyard or fig tree to represent four stages of Israel's relationship with God: covenant union with God, Israel in rebellion against God, Israel under divine judgment intended to bring about repentance and restoration, and Israel fully restored to God. However, the Old Testament prophets never acknowledged a complete restoration for the covenant people; restored fellowship was only promised in the future. Complete restoration only comes through God's supreme prophet, Jesus Christ.

THE SYMBOLIC IMAGE OF THE VINEYARD OR FIG TREE
Image Group	Part I Covenant relationship	Part II Rebellion	Part III Redemptive Judgment	Part IV Restoration Fulfilled
The Vineyard or Fig tree	Well-tended vineyard/fruitful fig tree	Vines grow wild/fail to produce fruit	Weeds overgrow vineyard/ ruin and destruction	Vines are replanted/ fruitfulness restored
[examples in Scripture]	Isaiah 5:1-4; Ezekiel 19:10-11; Jeremiah 24:4-7	Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 2:14; Micah 7:1-4; Joel 1:7, 11-12	Isaiah 5:3-6; Ezekiel 15:6-8; 19:12-14; Jeremiah 8:13; 24:1-10; Nahum 3:12-15	John 15:1-8 Jesus said: "I am the true vine... I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit..."

Jesus also used the "vineyard" imagery previously in the parable in Matthew 20:1-16.

The vineyard and the people in Jesus's parable have a symbolic significance:

The vineyard is Israel/Judea: the Old Covenant Church.
God is the father.
The first son, who refused and later served the father in the vineyard/Israel, represents the tax collectors and sinners. They are the religious outcasts who first failed to serve God by keeping His commandments but then answered St. John's call to repentance. They have come to Jesus to embrace His Gospel message of salvation and to serve God the Son.
The second son, who said "yes" but did not serve, represents the chief priests, elders, Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees. They are the failed shepherds of Israel who serve themselves but do not serve God's divine plan (c.f., Ezek 34; Mt 23).

31 Which of the two did his father's will? They answered, "The first."
To Jesus's question in verse 31: Which of the two did his father's will? the chief priests and elders correctly answered: "The first." In their answer, the people's leaders have condemned themselves. Jesus pronounced His judgment upon them: "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. 32 When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him."

In their pride and hardness of heart, these men presumed their superiority over sinners whom they dismissed as unworthy of salvation. In their lack of humility, they believed they had no further need to hear God's Word to be obedient to the will of God. They fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning those who refuse to listen to God's holy prophets: You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, least they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them (Is 6:9-10 LXX). St. Matthew quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 as a fulfillment statement in Matthew 13:14-15 concerning the same men who were leaders of the Old Covenant Church but rejected Jesus's authority to heal and teach the Gospel of salvation. They should have realized that Jesus was fulfilling Yahweh's promise in Ezekiel chapter 34 that He would come against the failed shepherds of Israel and shepherd His sheep Himself (Ezek 34:10-11). Jesus is the Good Shepherd, God in the flesh who came to rescue His people (Jn 10).

We should all heed the same warning. We must be open to the call of Jesus's Gospel of salvation. We must not allow pride to harden our hearts, so we fail to submit ourselves to humble repentance in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Nor should we close our ears to understanding the message of the Living Word, Jesus Christ, like the proud chief priests and elders. It is a humble and contrite spirit that pleases the Lord and provides a sure path to follow on the journey to salvation: Offer praise as your sacrifice to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High. Then call on me in time of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall honor me (Ps 50:14-15).

Catechism References (* indicates Scripture quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Ezekiel 18:25-28 (CCC 1421, 1446, 1468, 1470, 2043)

Philippians 2:1 (CCC 2842*); 2:4 (CCC 2635); 2:5-8 (CCC 461); 2:5 (CCC 520*, 1694, 2842*); 2:6-11 (CCC 2641*, 2667*); 2:6-9 (CCC 1850*); 2:6 (CCC 449); 2:7 (CCC 472, 602*, 705*, 713, 876, 1224); 2:8-9 (CCC 908*); 2:8 (CCC 411, 612, 623); 2:9-11 (CCC 449*, 2812); 2:9-10 (CCC 434); 2:10-11 (CCC 201*); 2:10 (CCC 633*, 635)

Matthew 21:28-32 (CCC 546*); 21:18 (CCC 544*); 21:22 (CCC 2610); 21:32 (CCC 535*)

The just person is distinguished by habitual rectitude toward others: (CCC 1802)

The Holy Spirit can give us the mind of Christ (CCC 2842*)

The obligation of social justice (CCC 1928-1930, 2425-2426)

The Lordship of Christ (CCC 446*, 447*, 448*, 449*, 450*, 451*, 452*, 453*, 454*, 455*, 456, 457*, 458*, 459*, 460*, 461*)

�Thy will be done� (CCC 2822*, 2823*, 2824*, 2825*, 2826*, 2827*)