A TALE OF TWO SONS

On Sunday, September 27, 2026, we hear the following parable:

"A man had two sons..."

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards changed his mind and went.

The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, 'but did not go.

Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." 

Here are are some thoughts by a respected French theologian, Yves de Montcheuil:

This parable alludes in the first place to the Jews and the Gentiles; but it also applies to each one of us we said “yes“ when we recognized the legitimacy of God‘s law and promised to submit to it; but very often we go on living as before, without troubling ourselves about the will of God. 

We think we live in the kingdom because our “yes“ was once sincere, and yet the force of daily habit, an alludes, the will of God who is calling us to the kingdom. Often perhaps his will, and our action coincide, but when a discrepancy arises between his will, and hours, it is the latter which carries the day; we obey our own wishes and whims.

Now life in the kingdom does not merely consist in putting one’s name down for it. Entry into the kingdom requires of us a continuing and living desire to accept God‘s will for us at each moment of our life. It is a “yes“ said over and over again.

In practice, though, it is our unfaithfulness which is repeated.

I was intrigued by the idea that I have both sons in myself, and hope that you, too, may find this reflection useful.