26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

True Faith is not Mere Religious Appearance: It Calls for the Conversion of Heart That Makes Conscience Obey God and Goodness (Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Mathew 21:28-32, 27 September 2026) 

With his preaching on the Kingdom of God, Jesus opposes a religiosity that does not involve human life, that does not question the conscience and its responsibility in the face of good and evil. He also demonstrates this with the parable of the two sons, which is offered to us in the Gospel of Matthew (21:28-32). (Pope Francis, Angelus, 2020) 

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Jesus tells a simple but searching parable. A father asks his two sons to work in his vineyard. The first says, “I will not,” but later changes his mind and goes. The second says, “Yes, sir,” but does not go. Jesus then asks, “Which of the two did his father’s will?” The answer is obvious: the one whose life finally corresponded to the father’s command. 

Pope Francis expressed this clearly: Jesus opposes “a religiosity that does not involve human life, that does not question the conscience and its responsibility in the face of good and evil.” The Gospel asks us a personal question: Has our faith changed the way we live? 

The Father’s Call: “Go Today”-The story begins with the father’s command: “Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.” 

The word “today” is important. God’s call is not only something from the past, nor is Christian discipleship merely the faith we inherited from our parents and grandparents. God calls us now. Every generation must answer. Every conscience must decide. 

The First Son: A “No” That Becomes “Yes”-The first son initially refuses. His answer is wrong, but it is not final. He changes his mind and goes. Here lies the hope of the Gospel: a person’s past does not have to determine his future. 

Conversion means that grace can interrupt an old pattern and open a new path. A person can move from resentment to forgiveness, from indifference to compassion, from spiritual distance to prayer, from failure to repentance. 

The Second Son: When Religious Words Become Appearance-The second son gives the answer his father wants to hear: “Yes, sir.” Yet he does not go. His tragedy is not that he speaks of obedience. It is that his words remain external. 

Jesus is not rejecting prayer, worship, tradition, or religious practice. He is asking whether these things have reached the heart. Faith becomes authentic when what we profess before God is reflected in how we live before others. 

The Gospel Explains Itself: Conversion Matters-Jesus makes the meaning unmistakable when He says that tax collectors and prostitutes were entering the Kingdom of God before those who claimed religious authority. Why? Because they responded to John’s preaching, believed, and changed. Jesus is not praising sin. He is revealing the possibility of repentance. Nor is He saying that religious practice has no value. He is warning against presumption—the assumption that religious status alone places us in right relationship with God. The decisive question is: Do we allow God’s Word to convert us? The parable contrasts two responses to God’s will: resistance that becomes repentance, and religious speech that refuses conversion. 

Conscience Must Lead to Action-This brings us to conscience. Christian conscience is not merely personal preference or passing emotion. It is the interior judgment by which we recognize what is good and what should be done. A well-formed conscience seeks truth and allows that truth to shape our decisions. 

The first son listens again and changes. The second hears but does not act. Thus, the movement of authentic faith is: Word → conscience → decision → action. If the Gospel remains only in our ears, it has not yet completed its work. 

Our Parish Vineyard: Where Faith Becomes Concrete-This is where the Gospel meets our parish life. We know the realities around us: some elderly parishioners live with increasing isolation; some are sick or homebound; some families struggle financially; some people live alone; some have gradually withdrawn from parish life; and we notice that some pews are no longer filled as they once were. It is understandable to experience these things as losses. But Jesus invites us to see them also as the vineyard to which He sends us. The question is not simply, “Why are fewer people coming?” It is also: “Whom is God asking us to notice, accompany, and serve?” 

The person who is homebound may need a visit. The lonely may need a phone call. The sick may need prayer and presence. A struggling family may need practical help. A newcomer may need a welcome. Someone who has drifted away may need not criticism, but a relationship that helps rebuild trust. 

Christ: The Perfect “Yes” to the Father-At the deepest level, the parable points toward Christ. Jesus is the obedient Son whose “Yes” is not merely spoken but lived. His obedience leads Him to Jerusalem and ultimately to the Cross. His life is a complete surrender to the Father’s will. Christian discipleship is therefore not merely following a rule. It is sharing in Christ’s own obedient love. The Eucharist makes this especially clear. We receive the One whose life is total self-giving. Therefore, our “Amen” at Holy Communion must become a lived response: greater patience, deeper charity, willingness to forgive, and readiness to serve. We cannot receive Christ and remain indifferent to the people Christ places before us. 

The Question Jesus Leaves Us-The parable leaves us with a question deeper than, “Do I say the right things?” It asks: Where is God calling me to conversion? Perhaps I need to forgive. Perhaps I need to reach out to someone I have neglected. Perhaps I have become too comfortable to notice another person’s suffering. Perhaps my religious practice has become routine while my heart has grown distant. Perhaps I have said “Yes” with my lips while postponing obedience with my life. The first son gives us hope: conversion is always possible when we are willing to respond to grace. 

Conclusion: Let the “Yes” Become Visible-The two sons remind us that God is not impressed by religious appearance alone. He looks for a faith that receives His Word, awakens the conscience, and becomes action. May our prayer become action, our conscience becomes obedience, and our faith become love. For the true “Yes” to God is not merely spoken by the lips; it is lived by the heart. 

Fraternally, 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor