26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) : 27th September 2020

People sometimes accuse God of being unfair, but God insists that humans are the unfair ones. Just look at the injustice, greed, selfishness, and violence flowing from their thoughts and actions. God begs people to change their ways and return to His ways. God takes no pleasure in punishment but wants us to live abundantly.

If we really want to make a difference in our world, we have no finer example than Jesus, who completely emptied himself. He took on weakness, limitation, and the status of a servant for our sakes. His motivation was love. Whenever we focus on the happiness and well-being of others instead of ourselves, we are following the model of Jesus, and we make the world a better place.

What we actually do is far more important than what we say we are doing. Many people claim to be quite religious and to be doing God’s will. A closer examination of their lives often reveals that this is not the case. It’s called hypocrisy — praising and extolling certain kinds of behaviour while doing just the opposite. The two sons in the gospel story are a fine example. One eagerly assures his father that he will do what he asks, but he doesn’t. The other complains and fusses but finally does what his father wanted. Which one was obedient? Which one are we?

Lord, help me to be selfless.