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26th Sunday |
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Contents: Volume 2 - September 27, 2026
1. -- Lanie LeBlanc OP - < lanie@leblanc.one>2. -- Fr. Jude Siciliano OP - <FrJude@JudeOP.org> 3. --(Your reflection can be here!)
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****************************************************** The readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time address some underlying, age-old questions. Why do good things happen to people who do bad things? Why do bad things happen to people who do good things? Where does God fit into all of this, does God even care? What can we really believe about eternal reward and punishment? One can spend many hours thinking about specific instances we know or people who come to mind in each question. The mind and the choices we and others make tangle us up that way, as if our job was to judge all things (which, thankfully, it isn’t!) So…. Hmm, is that fair, God? we might ask…or often shout! as in the first reading from the Book of Ezekiel. That is where, I think, we need to double-back. Both we and God make choices… God goes first. Free choice is among God’s greatest gifts to humanity… but it is not the only determining factor for our salvation! God initiates and offers everyone infinite Grace. No matter what our personal choices, good or bad simply happens in this life, because others choose good or bad also. In our second reading from the Letter to the Philippians, we hear/read what life choices God thinks are good. We are told about how Jesus, God Incarnate, willingly acted by emptying himself to become like one of us in order to redeem each of us from our bad choices. Our Triune God always makes good choices for the good of creation … not so we humans! Then comes the Gospel story according to Matthew about the two sons. Most of us act like each of them sometimes in our lives. Thankfully, God’s Final Judgment hasn’t happened for us “still wayward folks” yet (that is all of us, btw). Only God knows what is in our hearts and all the circumstances that affect us and our actions. God’s Grace is the key here, always and everywhere, and, yes, it is our free will to cooperate with it, over and over. Since the Almighty Being is supreme in all things, no “other one” knows exactly what will happen or how, in the future. In my opinion, I think to trust the Almighty One is the wisest thing any human can do! Striving to imitate the goodness that Jesus demonstrated as a human person also seems wise. What in our lives needs to be changed? What will help us change our wayward ways, those visible to all and those visible to God alone? Some specific ways include adding a good dose of prayer and humility. Actually, reducing and eliminating judgement of others from our lives. Practicing forgiveness. Believing that we are all equally loved in God’s sight. All this is the work of a lifetime, for sure. Blessings, Dr. Lanie LeBlanc OP Southern Dominican Laity
****************************************************** From today’s Gospel reading:
A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, “Son go out and work in the vineyard today.” He said in reply, “I will not,” but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, “Yes, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?” They answered, “The first.”
Reflection:
Did you notice in today’s parable there is no mention of how things turned out when the first son changed his mind and went into the vineyard? How hard of a worker was he when he finally got to the vineyard to work?
Did he do what was expected of him? There are no standards or measurements of success laid out for us in this story. The emphasis is just on someone who changed his mind; who in the end, responded to an invitation.
Maybe that is what is pleasing to God: our desire to serve and our attempts, if at times feeble, to respond –while we leave plenty of room for God to step in and fill in the gaps. The big ones and the small ones.
So, we ask ourselves:
· Shall we pray today for healing from past hurts caused by those who lied to us or disappointed us? · And shall we ask for the ability to forgive them?
Click here for a link to this Sunday’s readings:
Fr. Jude Siciliano OP - <FrJude@JudeOP.org>
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A service of The Order of Preachers,
The Dominicans. (form revised 10/13/2025) |
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