Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BIBLICAL IMAGERY

(Fr Michael Boakye Yeboah: Vice Rector of St Gregory Seminary, Kumasi-Ghana)

FACTA, NON VERBA

            One of the female religious congregations that has contributed immensely in Christian Evangelization in the whole world is the Society of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ). I choose their motto for my reflection today: Facta, non verba (Action, not words). I picked this theme in line with today’s Gospel reading.

            Jesus’ parable of the two sons, one promising but not delivering obedience, the other initially refusing but eventually offering obedience, carries two meanings. The first is: a late conversion is better than the self-righteous delusion that one needs no conversion. Jesus has come to call and to heal the sick, not those who think themselves healthy (Matthew 9:12-13). The second teaching distinguishes sharply between talk and action. It contrasts a person who piously promises God he will do something and thereby deceives himself into thinking he has already done enough with one who actually does something often with an outward demeanor that would not lead anyone to expect any such action from him. We have here echoes of the “Lord, Lord” cries at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and of the house built on sand rather than rock. Both Gospel themes are made most clear on the other readings.

            The first reading, from Ezekiel, takes account of late conversion. Paths in life often are confused. One loses himself in the fields of sin, far from God. Perhaps, like the second son in the Gospel, he gives God a resounding No. But to be able to reject God’s command he must first have heard it, and, since the command keeps echoing, the sinner’s carrying-on ceases to be fun. His bad conscience pursues him and spoils his pleasure in sinning. Like Israel, the sinner grouses at this spoilsport God: “The Lord’s way is not fair!” (Ezekiel 18:25), yet he knows that God cannot be wrong. That is how it must have been with the prostitute who converted at Jesus’ feet in the Pharisee’s house (Luke 7). The event of a conversion, even if a late one like that of the thief on the cross, is so significant for God that he silently sweeps away all twistedness and corruption and opens an entirely new lifetime account for the one who has turned toward him. In the end, at the judgment, the data of such a life are not simply added up and totaled, rather, one entire column is simply erased and a new one begun immediately following. That is how the tax collectors and prostitutes are able to enter the Kingdom of heaven ahead of the Pharisees.

            A Christian should always note that deeds count. The second reading shows how deeds, not words, count. The dominant example is Jesus Christ himself, who emptied himself, took the form of a slave, and was obedient to God even to death on the Cross. Here we hear only about his actions, not a word about his teaching, even though, of course, every word he spoke was spoken in obedience to the Father. St. Paul’s great exhortation to the Church has one purpose: that all might have an attitude that corresponds to an existence in Christ. Since Christ did not spare himself, but rather died on the Cross for all his brothers and sisters, each Christian should not immediately think of himself but should instead “regard others as more important” than himself. This is possible only if he has the humility of Christ, which takes the last seat and does nothing out of “selfishness or vainglory”. The first son’s Yes was that sort of vainglory: he wanted to appear to be the model child. In so doing he automatically elevates himself above others, which is why he equally automatically becomes a false member of the community of Christ. May the grace of God help us to mean YES when God calls us.