Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church
A while back, about an hour before a ministry event began, I received a text message that one of my adult volunteers wouldn’t be able to make it and that I’d be short an adult for the evening. I wasn’t mad – she had a perfectly legitimate reason to not come – but imagine my panic. I had planned around having here there to help with things, and now my plan wasn’t going to be possible because she couldn’t make it. Fortunately, a parent of one of the teens I work with noticed that I was down a volunteer and stepped in for the evening. It was wonderful, and the event was better because I had all the support I was anticipating having.
My goal here is not to shame the person who canceled on me. Things happen! But at the end of the day, I was significantly more grateful for the mom that stepped in to help (when she wasn’t planning on helping originally) than I was towards the one who canceled when she said she’d be there.
The father in today’s Gospel (Matthew 21:28-32) can probably sympathize. His first son told him he wouldn’t help in the vineyard, so he had to go ask his other son. His other son, upon saying yes, ended up canceling, but it was okay because the first son went and did it anyway. Despite being an organizational nightmare, the message is clear – everyone agrees that the first son, although he originally rejected his father, ultimately is the one who did his father’s will. We see from Jesus’ response that this is correct – even if you say you will do wrong, but ultimately end up doing right, you are much more in line with God than if you do the opposite.
Today, let us remember that what we do is significantly more important than what we say, and it is our actions, not our words, that will ultimately represent how closely we follow the will of our Father in Heaven.
- Marty Bagatti