30 September 2023 – 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) (Sunset Mass)

by Fr Joachim Robert

Dear friends,

Today on the eve of the Consistory, the reflection that begins on the 4th October, that is when the Synod begins. But prior to that, those delegates gather in Rome to enter into a time of reflection and prayer. And before that reflection and prayer, they come together as one united people, as Christians, Catholics and Christians alike, to be gathered in Rome to pray together to invoke the Holy Spirit to lead and guide the whole Synod.

And as we are in this moment today, a moment the Lord invites us to open our hearts to see where the Lord will lead us, where the Holy Spirit will lead us. And our readings today, dear friends, so beautifully expresses the need of the openness towards the newness of life that God wants to give us. Because our readings today invites us to choose and hope in this God who calls us and leads us. And the choices is made or given to us, whether we choose life or death.

As you take a look at the First Reading from the Prophet Ezekiel:-

The words of the Lord was addressed as follows ‘You object and you question ‘What the Lord does is unjust?’ Listen, you House of Israel: Is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust?

This is a question and this is the dialogue between God and Israel. But here we know, dear friends, the Lord has consistently been faithful in leading and guiding His people. And very often we choose the opposite when we know that sometimes the things of God leads us towards the truth. But we have often chosen to move away and renounce our integrity and committed sin.

And on the other hand, there is a choice that we make to renounce sin and become law abiding.

So again here the choice is made for an openness of life.

In the Gospel too we are reminded that the humble change of heart of the first son or the first born where he said he won’t go, had his conversion of heart and went to work in the vineyard. Whereas the second did the opposite. He said he will go and he did not go. And here, dear friends, the first boy was open to listen to his heart and make the necessary changes in his life, in his decision, to choose what is right and what is good.

Very often we have this doubt in our mind, whether are we choosing the right thing. And all of us, dear friends, experience this, whether the decisions we make is right or wrong. And sometimes we choose to be like the second son where we refuse to admit our mistakes, we refuse to apologise, we refuse to change our ways, persist in our prejudice against others and people and think that we know it all. But on the other hand, if we choose the path of Jesus, as is expressed in the Second Reading of today. Saint Paul tells the Philippians that ‘His state was divine yet He did not cling to his equality with God but emptied Himself to assume the condition of a slave and became as men are.‘

If we allow ourselves, dear friends, to change our mind and configure our mind from the ways of the world to the ways of Christ, then we are allowing ourselves to find hope in Christ, in the way we lead our lives.

And as we are in this historical moment of the Synod as church, we see there will be dialogues, there will be listening, there will be exchange of words but the Holy Spirit continues to guide the church to be open to the promptings of the Spirit of where God wants to lead us. And for that, dear friends, it is not only happening in Rome but it is also happening in each and every one of our lives, in our family, in our community, if we only listen and to choose the ways of God, to choose the ways of life and to renew our hope in Him once again.

Let us pray, dear friends, that as we begin this journey as church, together with all the Bishops and the delegates gathered in Rome, that we may take this time to pray for one another. To pray for one another so that the respect of each other is upheld, the dignity of each other is respected and what God wills for us as church will continue to be led through.

I would just like to conclude this homily with one sharing after coming back from Taize.

I was privilege to go to Taize, the place where the brothers of Taize gather as a community to pray for ecumenism and peace and harmony in the world. And in their prayer, dear friends, there is so much of time allocated for silence in every moment of the day. So they pray three times, once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening. And each time, what was beautiful for me to witness was that that gathering of about 600 young people, young and old alike, were able to sit quietly in pin-drop silence to be united in prayer and when we are able to pray together in silence, and when they gathered together to share their experiences, many, many of the brokenness, many, many of the walls that they have, the prejudice that they get about the church, about the people, about the institutions continue to break down.

And for me, I was privileged to be with a group of people which had people from different faith. People who have been estranged from the church, people who have become new Catholics, Protestants, people who don’t believe in God, agnostics, all where there together to be united in that silent prayer and after that silent prayer we were able to share our life experiences together.

And that moment of silent, of being together, dear friends, is what we need to recover and discover once again. And that is why the Pope has called these brothers of Taize to come together with all the young people, gathered in Rome tonight, to pray and invoke the Holy Spirit. That even though we may have differences, even though we may come from people with different beliefs, different faiths, different faith belief, we are able to walk together in unison, in unity, in harmony. 

And for that, the brothers of Taize was able to respect each other’s religion, to respect each other’s uniqueness. And there are so much of sensitivity and respect given to them. And sometimes to the extent of we Catholics becoming a little bit edgy with ourselves because certain, certain things are not the way it should be. But that moment, dear friends, that moment that I was there for that one week in prayer and in silence, it was always this constant stirring in our hearts, for all of the brothers as well there, and the people, where the Lord was leading us.

And today we pray that as the church gathers in Rome, that each and every leaders and delegates there will be able to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in their life and to guide the church to move in the path of unity, of peace and inclusivity.

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