“Which one did the Father's will?”
One of the most frequently used words in the psalms is “path”. It is used three times in today's psalm. Notice how forcefully the psalmist asks for guidance in identifying the right path: “Make me know; make me walk; teach me...” These three imperatives tell us that the choice is not our own. Only God knows the true path, the right way, the way that is ultimately best for us.
Finding and following the right paths through life takes obedience to the Father's will. Do you realize that every time we pray the Our Father it is a prayer of submission to God's will? That doesn't come easily to us who are a “my way” people. We fight the yoke of compliance with our free will. As Archbishop Paul Martin said in a recent homily: “Most of the unhappiness we experience in life is because we do the opposite of God's will. We choose the things that are not of God and then want God to sort out the mess we get ourselves into.” How true!
These two choices – our will versus God's will – are exemplified in the gospel today. The second son says he will obey his father's instruction to work in the vineyard then opts out to do his own thing for the day. In contrast, the first son changes his “No, I won't go”, into “Yes, I will”. What moves him to give up his plans in favour of his father's? Look carefully. After his “no” he “thought better of it”. We, too, must come to a moment of realization, to a point of humility when we let go and let God have the greater knowledge of what is best for us.
That is why prayer is so important every day of our lives (not just in the crisis ones!). Regular prayer keeps us open and flexible to the will of God. Prayer stirs up our love for God and love turns our obedience into a gift. As St Paul says, “If love can persuade at all ...be the same as Christ Jesus in your minds.” Remember, Mary, too, had other plans for her life. She gave them away in a beautiful act of compliance: “Let it be done to me according to your will.” Can we do the same when God crosses our life with a different path?
— GM