In today’s Gospel, we hear a very provocative and challenging parable from Jesus about 2 sons addressed firstly to the chief priests and elders (but of course to all of us as well!) in which he makes it clear to them that they are failing to do the Father’s will and respond to his grace, unlike many of the prostitutes and tax collectors, who therefore stand a much better chance of getting into heaven than they do! You can imagine how well that went down with the religious leaders…

Jesus stresses that what matters to God is not our social status or how respectable we are in the eyes of the world, but simply how open we are to His will and call in our lives. Yes, the tax collectors and prostitutes have lived sinful, scandalous lives but with the coming of John the Baptist and now with Jesus, they have been the ones who have really opened their minds and hearts to the call for conversion, while most of the religious leaders have resisted this urgent call from God and have focused instead on their own power and status. In our own day, we can often be very critical of people who are seen to change their opinions and beliefs – when we see our political leaders do this we say they are “making a U-Turn”, which is usually seen as something very negative. But in the Bible we see that God loves it when people make U-Turns! To finally wake up to the truth that we are heading in completely the wrong direction in our lives and then humbly admit our need for change if we really want to be centred on God and live with integrity is a very powerful moment in anyone’s life. I have experienced this many times in my own life and it is always such a grace!

It’s very easy to be critical of our political leaders, when we should always first & foremost be praying for them. Our Prime Minister’s father, Roy, died recently after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Let’s hold them in our prayers at this time. But this parable is addressed urgently to each one of us. What U-Turns do I need to make in my life?

With blessings & prayers from Fr Richard, Fr Ephrem & all the parish team
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