WORDS FROM FATHER YOHANES: Beyond Sunday Mass, Life in the Vineyard

By Father Yohanes Akoit

The Gospel reading for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time tells us the parable of the Kingdom of God using the metaphor of family life. It tells us that there was a father who had two sons. He then asked them, one by one, to work in his vineyard. The first answered no, but later he changed his mind and went to the vineyard. The second son answered yes, but later ignored his father's request. He did not go (Matthew 20:1-16a).

On reading the above story, one possible reflection we can make is to ask this question: What made the first son change his mind while the second one did not? A possible answer to this question is to connect this reading with the Gospel of St. John 15:1. There we may find the answer. Based on St. John's Gospel account, we see that Jesus declares Himself to be the true vine. This declaration of Jesus can be used as the answer to the above question. The first son changed his mind because he acknowledged the vineyard as a chance to meet Jesus. The second son failed to recognize the presence of Jesus and that is why he simply forgot his father's request.

After establishing the biblical foundation and its possible reflection, we can now ask one more question: What is the message for us? Again, to find inspiration, we should remember the turning point of the first son mentioned above. He changed his mind because he recognized the connection between the vineyard and the real presence of Jesus: We can now use that aspect for our self-examination. How many of us recognize God's call to encounter His presence in the vineyard, the Church? In response, we may say that we are aware of God's presence. And because of that awareness, our churches are crowded every Sunday Mass. What a wonderful answer for those who respond in the same way. Therefore, for those of us who attend Sunday Mass, it is a great blessing. We receive the real presence of Jesus through Holy Communion.

Our duty now is not simply to stop or be satisfied with the fact that churches are packed, especially during Sunday Mass. Our new task is to apply the same awareness and participation to other activities of the Church. Events such as weekly adoration on Wednesdays, First Friday adoration, penance services, and the rosary before Sunday Mass often have only a few participants. Our question is this: Why, in the same vineyard, the Church, do we draw a demarcation regarding our participation? By comparing the number of people who attend Sunday Mass with those who attend adoration, we might say this: we have a tendency to come only for Mass, either on Saturday evening or Sunday. No adoration and no rosary prayer, even though they take place in the same church. Why has such a difference developed in our participation in the life of the Church? We know there are many opportunities for prayer and worship in the Church, but we choose only a small part of them. It is as if, when we enter the vineyard, God gives us a full plate of food, but we take only what we like and leave the rest untouched.

Therefore, this Gospel reading is a reminder for all of us. We are called to encounter Jesus in His vineyard, the Church. We are asked to take the role of the elder son. We may say no to the father's request at first, but later we change our minds and fulfill it. Once we enter the vineyard, we need to fulfill all our tasks. We are called to arrange our time so that we can encounter Jesus through Sunday and weekday Masses, the Rosary prayer before mass and Eucharistic adoration.

Father Yohanes Akoit is pastor of St. Julian and St. Anthony Catholic churches in Kentucky.