Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent
Zephaniah 3:1-2,9-13  +  Matthew 21:28-32
December 15, 2020

“Which of the two did his father’s will?”

Like the one proclaimed on Thursday of the First Week of Advent [Mt 7:21,24-27], today’s Gospel Reading from the twenty-first chapter of Matthew focuses upon good works.  Both of these passages contrast mere words with resolute works.  Yet there’s a further similarity that’s even more important.

In the passage from Matthew 7, Jesus insists that for one to enter Heaven, one must do the will of God the Father.  In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus proclaims a parable at whose center is a father with two sons.  The human father in this parable is a symbol of God the Father.

This focus of God the Father can help you see that it’s not your own human will that’s key in your life.  The key is the will of God the Father.  This is the same Father who within salvation history loved His erring children—those resembling the first son in today’s parable—enough to send His only divine Son to die for them.  The Father “willed” that His Only-Begotten, the one who in all things does His Father’s will—even on Calvary—sacrificed His life for the sinful son, who is you and me.