Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

One word that is always incompatible with our Christian faith is “fatalism”… to believe that my destiny is already written… We, as Christians believe that the future is a book that is not written yet, a book in which we have the right to write our own pages in the book of our lives.

The readings today go in that direction. They invite and oblige us to recognize that it is possible to change the direction in our lives. Every decision can transform you into a different person. It means not only that we can change, but we can also get better and improve the direction that we choose. Catholicism always brings a positive message: CONVERSION IS POSIBLE. Today you can come to your senses; the rest of your life doesn’t exist yet… you are going to participate in you existence.

“Change your mind, change your heart and your life and the results will be amazing”

In the first reading we are receiving a very strong invitation: “If the wicked repent… he shall not die, he shall preserve his life” (Ez 18:25-28). That person is someone that has done many bad things and has made many bad decisions and most of the times we consider him bad in himself, in his nature but even that nature doesn’t have the last word. The message is simple but powerful: nobody is tied to a bad past. Not even the bad words that you have said have the power to enslave you. The second son in the parable today was the one that said in a loud voice: “I will not go” (Mt 21; 28-32) yet a word with wisdom can be more powerful than a bad, negative and pessimist word.

I don’t want to finish by giving the impression that what we need is simply “good intentions” we have enough proof of how weak we are. Christ gives us the grace to not only accept and recognize that we where wrong but also not to feel the strong desire to repeat it. The action of Christ in us, don’t forget, changes the heart. We have the Gospel filled with stories that prove this.

This reason is exactly why Saint Paul exhorts us with these words: “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:1-11). It is so hard to do things like Jesus if we are not His. My brothers and sisters, because of our Faith in Him, because we believe in His message, because we are still building St. Marks Church as He commanded us in Mt. 28:19; because we are using all the tools He has placed in our hands to bring more brothers and sisters to love His Church from where we receive His Holy Spirit.