TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY OF YEAR A
30th September/1st October 2017


Dear Parishioners,

Today's Scripture passages remind us that it is our final decision for or against God, that is, our choosing to obey Him gracefully by doing His will or our choosing to go against His will, which will decide our eternal reward or eternal punishment. As free beings, it is we who choose our eternal destiny.

In the first reading, the Lord God, through His prophet, Ezekiel, corrects the Jewish beliefs that children inherit the guilt of their ancestors and are punished for it and that God is more strict than merciful. God explains that His mercy overrules strict justice and that He will punish us only for our sins, not for the sins of our ancestors.

The second reading, Paul's Letter to the Philippians, also affirms the truth that the final choice for God, made by perfect obedience to Him, will be rewarded. Paul emphasizes the fact that it is because of Christ's obedience to God's will by emptying himself, taking human form and humbling himself by accepting death on a cross, that God the Father exalted Christ, bestowed on him the Name above every other name, and made Jesus the recipient of universal adoration.

In the parable in today's Gospel, a man with two sons tells both to go out to work in the vineyard. The first son says he won't go, but later regrets it and works. The second son says he will go but does not. In each case, it is the final decision that is more important. Jesus teaches through this short parable that repentant tax-collectors and prostitutes, represented by the first son who initially refused to go, will make their way into the Kingdom of God before the chief priests and the elders, represented by the second son in the parable. By their pride and their refusal to obey God's call to repentance, the scribes and the Pharisees are excluding themselves, while the tax-collectors and sinners whom they despised are repenting of their sins and will be accepted into God's Kingdom.

So, it is our choice as free beings to choose the reward we need by being consistent in our words and deeds. Let us really mean what we say and practice it with our life.

"SEND O LORD: HOLY APOSTLES INTO YOUR CHURCH"

Fr Sabu Pariyadan RCJ


Notices:

Please remember to pray for:

The sick and housebound

Those who have recently died:

Years Mind:
Tuesday: Fr Michael Hopkins
Thursday: Fr Heury Healy, Fr David Logue
Friday: Fr Edward Heery
Saturday: Fr Harold Cahill
Sunday: Fr Alfred Clements


Next Sunday - TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY OF YEAR A

First Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7
The vineyard of the Lord God of hosts is the House of Israel.

Second Reading: Philippians 4:6-9
The God of peace will be with you.

Gospel Matthew 21:33-43
He will lease the vineyard to other tenants.