Actions Speak Louder Than Words

26th Sunday A
Mt.21:28-32

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 he 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.” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you” (Mt.21: 28-31).

The story is told of a man who was confined to his bed at home. People from the parish came to see him. After their visit, they said, "We will pray for you." The cripple replied, "I can do my own praying. But, if you really want to help, you can take out the garbage and do the dishes"(Gilhooley).

Sometimes it is so easy for us to express our care and concern but we fail to demonstrate it more eloquently through our action. As Christians we must be the visual aid to teach other people the right way of living. In the parable of the two sons, we heard the first saying “No” to his father who told him to go out and work in the vineyard, but later he changed his mind and went. The second son on the other hand, says, “Yes” but actually did not go. The first son may be worse for saying “No” but because he resolved to go, he was actually the better one. The second son may be commendable for saying, “Yes” to his father, but he is false to his father. His love is only in words and not with his heart and his action.

From this we can see that what validates and authenticates our love is our action. We prove our love by our deeds. Actions speak louder than words. Jesus is teaching us how to be committed to God. Commitment is a matter of performance and not words. It is not only observing rituals and keeping the rules but also living the Gospel values. Our greatest downfall as Christians is the ambivalent ways we live our lives. We praise God inside the church but we are indifferent with our fellow human beings outside the worship.

In 1896, Charles Sheldon had written a book “In His Steps”, which started the movement WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?). One day a ragged man told a church congregation, “It seems to me, there’s an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn’t exist if all the people who sing such songs live them out.” The man later passed away. The minister and congregation were shocked and ashamed. They pledge to do everything in their daily lives after asking the question, “What would Jesus do?”

Saying “yes” to God means we try to become Jesus to others. There must be congruence in what we say and do. Perhaps we are drawn to God’s love but our response is “no” because we are not yet ready to commit ourselves to Him. Thus, we fail many times. But the good news is we can always repent and commit ourselves to the truth. We can overcome our resistance and hesitation and love God with our action. The challenge of true Christian commitment is not only to say, “Yes” to God but also to be like Jesus to others. When people meet and get to know us, do they also want to meet and get to know Christ? Do we attract people to Christ or we turn them off by the way we live? Let us turn away from selfishness and hypocrisy. Let us humble ourselves to the Lord and ask pardon for the many times we say “no”.

Let us not only say nice things to others but act in the way that enhances their well-being.

Rev. Fr. Nony S. Villaluz, CRM