9-27-26 26 Sunday in Ordinary Time
26 Sunday of Ordinary Time
9-26-26
Our gospel
this weekend refers to a very human characteristic that often many people find
themselves doing. They promise one thing but do the opposite. Or they promise one thing, but then never go
and do it. Such person can be said to have good intentions, but there is little
action on those intentions. Often with repentance it can remain only an
intention until it is put into action. For example, a person keeps a letter of
apology in a drawer for months, continually revising it, but never sending it
(i.e., there is so action to their repentance). However, if one morning instead
of editing it again, and again, the person decides to drive across town, ring
the doorbell, and speak the apology face-to-face then there is action on their
sense of repentance.1
Indeed, we often promise God that we
will do all sorts of things, to actually show we are repentant, but we never
seem to find the time to do them. The intention is good, but the follow-through
at times can be poor. The
scriptures are filled with stories of this type of behavior. Like in the story of Jonah where Jonah
promises God to go to Nineveh to speak about the need for the people to repent before their city is
destroyed by God. But Jonah did not follow
through on that mission that God had given him.
Instead, Jonah goes in exactly the opposite direction away from Nineveh
because Jonah is not in agreement with God's plan to save the people of Nineveh. In a way, he is like the son in the gospel
this weekend who says "yes he will go" into the vineyard but never does. So, Jonah set sail on a ship that will take
him away from Nineveh. However, while at sea a terrible storm
arrives, and the pagan sailors on the ship feel that the gods are angry with
them. They surmise if they can offer a sacrifice
to their gods then they will be saved.
They cast lots and Jonah losses and thus is sacrificed, which involves
being thrown into the sea. Where upon he
is swallowed by a whale and lies in the belly of the whale for three days. After which the whale spits him out. Where? On the shores of Nineveh? Realizing he cannot escape his promise to
God, he preaches to the people of Nineveh and they repent. Or take the story of Peter at the Last Supper
where he is promising to follow Jesus wherever he is going, including whatever
he is going to suffer. And then when the
time of testing comes, Peter goes in the opposite direction by denying his
relationship to Jesus three times. Like
Peter, sometimes the ways we in living out our lives, may not reflect our promises
to be faithful to Jesus and the commandments
he has given us especially those that center on loving one another as he has
loved us. “There’s a true story of a man by the name of
Shon Hopwood. Shom grew up in Nebraska, served in the Navy,
came home and then drifted for a while.
But in 1997, at the age of 23, he and several friends began robbing
banks. They stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. Finally, they were caught,
and Hopwood was sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison. Certainly, the label, federal inmate, was very accurate
based on what happened to him because of the choices he made. Then inside prison, something unexpected
happened. He began spending time in the law library. At first, there was little reason to imagine that this would
become anything significant in his life. He had not been an exceptional student
in school. He had no law degree. He was a prisoner, learning law from inside of
a federal penitentiary. Many wondered
where that could possibly lead. But then
one day another inmate asked him for help with an appeal he was trying to make. Intrigued by this man’s situation, Hopwood
began researching the law books to assist his fellow prisoner. He discovered that he was very good at it. He eventually prepared a petition to the
United States Supreme Court on behalf of this fellow prisoner, John Fellers.
The court agreed to hear the case, which would have been an extraordinary
achievement, even for an experienced appellate lawyer. Fellers case ultimately prevailed and there
was a unanimous Supreme Court decision on his behalf. Buoyed up by this decision that he helped make, Hopwood kept going with
his study of law. After he was released
from prison in 2009, he went to college and then law school. He became an
appellate lawyer, clerked for a federal appeals court judge, and even eventually
joined the faculty of Georgetown University Law Center. The bank robber became
a law professor! Strange? Yes! Years later testifying before Congress about
people rebuilding their lives while in prison Hopwood expressed what his own experience
had taught him in four words: “Character is not static." His life became a reflection of what Ezekiel
wrote about in the first reading this weekend. “…when the wicked turn away from
the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right they shall
save their life." (Ezekiel 18:27). There was no need to erase the first part of
Hopwood ‘s life in order to appreciate the second part of his life story. 2
Perhaps
a story like this can give us time to think about our own lives. What are the
intentions or promises that we have made, based on our faith relationship with
Jesus, that we have not yet fulfilled? What
are the changes we are being invited to consider for our life that will fulfill
our life in a more positive way? In the gospel this weekend, Jesus
is speaking to the leaders of the Jews, the Pharisees and the scribes. These
leaders were great in telling the Jews what the God required of them and condemning or rejecting the people when
they didn’t live up to the religious
laws. Jesus was inviting these leaders to
consider their own behavior and where changes are necessary in the exercise of
their duties as religious leaders. Changes
like having mercy for others and not always condemning or rejecting
people. Some of them would change, but it would take
time, prayer, and grace for that to happen. For example, take the story of Nicodemus, a
leader among the Jews, who comes to Jesus in the dark cover of night. He is asking Jesus if he is the Messiah the
promised one, the righteous one the Jews have waited for centuries. Nicodemus was an authority figure in the
temple and was afraid of being associated with or seeking out Jesus. It is in
that personal encounter that Jesus
invites Nicodemus to change his life; to change the way he sees people. In a way he is inviting Nicodemus to believe
not only in the first Commandment to love God with all his mind and heart and
soul, but also the second commandment to love his neighbor as himself. He is inviting Nicodemus to come into the
light of truth and to let his actions be seen as actions done in and through
the love of God.
This invitation is very similar to what St.
Paul is speaking about in the second reading this weekend, through his letter to the Philippians. Paul invites the community to “have the same
mind as that “that was in Christ (Phil. 2:5). In other words, he invites the Philippians to live
a life like Christ’. A life whereby he
emptied himself and took the form of a servant, humbling himself, and becoming
obedient to the father 's will. Unlike
the son in today’s gospel, who said yes, but did not go into his father’s
vineyard, Jesus is willing to enter the vineyard (the world) to fulfill what
the Father has asked of him to save his
brothers and sisters.
Changing our minds to be receptive to the Father's
will be very important, but just as important as that intention is, are the
actions we put behind it that show we are doing what the God is asking of us. We
are being asked to live out in our lives and through our intentions and actions
what God, through his spirit, is directing us to do. And when we do that, we
are like Christ, in that we are not only saying yes to God, but by his Spirit,
we are making Christ present and believable in the vineyard of our world. And as such we give witness, as Shon Hopwood
gave witness for his fellow prisoners, that we are always free to change our intentions
and actions. We are always free to reflect
our desire to fulfill the will of God in our lives, currently, and in this
place. And
so, we pray from this week’s Responsorial Psalm:
“Good and upright is the Lord; thus, he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice and teaches the humble his way."
1. Microsoft Copilot, personal communication, (September 23, 2026) 2. Voicings. Com (2026)
