“Forget what you said to me… Just change your mind!” (The parable of the two sons)

 1. A man had two sons: one who answered, “I will not go to work” but later he changed his mind and went; and another one who answered, “I am going, sir” but he did not go (cf. Matthew 21:28-32). In the parable there is not a third son, one who said that he would go and then actually did the father’s will. This parable is for us, and none of us could have been that son. That son is Jesus, the Son of God, who said since his Mother’s womb “I have come to do Your will” (cf. Hebrews 10:5-7) and later said from the Cross, “It is done” (John 19:30).

2. So, a man had two sons. We can be like both of them. We even could say that we all have been both of them. In Baptism, by ourselves or through our parents, we committed to go and work in the Lord’s vineyard, the Church. Our baptismal promises, which we renew every year, are our way of saying to the Lord, “I am going, sir.” We sealed our covenant with the Lord and promised that we would renounce sin and evil for Him. Like the second son, we all said, “I will go, Lord,” but then, sometimes, we did not.

So we go back to the first son, the one who said to his father, “I will not go,” but then changed his mind and went. When we commit sin, we hear in our conscience that the Lord wants us to do something, and we answer, “I will not,” like the first son. Now, if we are here today, or if we today intend to receive communion, it is because we have changed our minds. We regret what we said before, we are sorry for having broken our covenant, we have confessed our sins, and we intend to do better. We have changed our minds, and we have tried since then to do the Father’s will. This is what Jesus wants from us, and this is why He tells this parable to the leaders of his people.

3. Certainly, the leaders of God’s people had made a covenant with the Lord and, in rejecting John the Baptist, they had not done what they had promised to do. “I am going, Lord,” they said, but then did not go. So, the leaders of the people surely had played the second son. But we could say that also the prostitutes and tax collectors played that son: they had also heard in their consciences God’s voice telling them: “Do the right thing and avoid sin!” but they did not listen. In my view, Jesus’ point is not that the tax collectors are like the first son (who said, “I will not” but then he went) and the leaders are like the second son (who said, “I am going, sir” but then he did not go). Jesus wants the chief priests and the elders to be like the first son, in imitation of the prostitutes and tax collectors.

Jesus’ parable is a way of encouraging the leaders to repent, not a message of condemnation. Significantly, Jesus says that sinners and tax collectors are entering the Kingdom “ahead of” them: it is not that the leaders and chief priests are not going to enter, but that others are entering before them when they should be the first to enter. “Hey guys, you are being late to the feast, a feast that I have prepared particularly for you.”

4. Also, it is as if Jesus were saying to them: “If public sinners can enter the Kingdom of God because of their faith, how much easier should it be for you, who have kept faithfully the Old Covenant? If prostitutes and tax collectors could change their minds and follow God’s message, should you not also change your minds and believe in me?” This is why Jesus says to them: “John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.” As if He were saying to them: “Friend, you are the first son, the one the father approached first and who said no to his father. John spoke to you first, and you did not believe. But you can still change your mind, like that son. And, as you have rightly said, if you do change your mind, I will considered you as the ones who did the will of my Father. I will forget what you said before, I will not hold it against you. Just change your minds and come to my vineyard.”

5. Some of us may think that there is no redemption for us because we have committed this or that sin. It was so clear to you that God wanted you to do something, and you told your God, “I will not.” You perhaps were the first who should have said yes, and you said no. It doesn’t matter: just change your mind. If you do, you will just be late, but the door will still be open for you. Let us not run out of time, let us not keep our Lord waiting. There is work to be done, and God thinks that you can help.