Our Lady Of Perpetual Help

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Reflection - Week of September 27

Question of the Week:

To what have I said no recently that I regret now? How can I turn around and make up for that?

     Saint Paul tells the early Christian community in Philippi (scripture scholars believe this to be one of his earliest letters) to “have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). He goes on to write that Jesus emptied himself to serve others and followed the Father’s will all the way to his execution on the cross. So too must we serve others, accept God’s will for our lives, and carry our crosses. May we adopt the same attitude as Jesus so that we can be Christ for others, sharing God’s mercy and love with others.

     If we remember from last week, a day’s work in the vineyard is exhausting. Hard labor in the hot sun from sunup to sundown is a difficult way to spend your day. It is not a huge surprise that one of the sons immediately says no. It is also unsurprising that the other son, after saying yes, changes his mind. But it is the first son who has a change of heart, who opens his heart to his father’s will and works in the vineyard that day. As this is a parable of the kingdom of God, it is God asking us to work in the vineyard that is the world. Even if it seems too much for us to accept at first, God patiently waits for us to have a change of heart, to subordinate our own wills to God’s, as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, and commit to do God’s will here on earth.