A young man went through college dreaming of the day he would be offered an executive position in his father's huge industrial plant. On graduation day, the father took him aside and said, "Son, now you're ready to come into the family business." Immediately, the young man had visions of a big, plush office, a large staff of assistants, and a hefty executive salary. "I'll start work tomorrow, dad," he said enthusiastically. Whereupon, the father said, "Of course, in order to Learn the business, you'll have to start at the bottom. To begin with, your job will be to water the hundreds of plants located in our buildings." The son protested. "I've changed my mind. I'm not coming to work tomorrow." Later, he thought better of his negative reply and decided to please his father. And so he went to work at the job he had been offered. The father hoped for the best, but was concerned that despite his son's good intentions, he wouldn't stay on the job for long. But he stopped worrying when the young man showed him his new business card, which read, "PLANT MANAGER."
In today's Gospel we have the simple little story of how two young men responded to their father's request that they go to work in the family business. Jesus doesn't put on this little quiz to see how smart His listeners are. He is making a crucial point with them about their relationship with God. It is not what you say, not what you promise, not what you teach that matters most. Far better to move from bad intentions to positive action than to remain locked into your good intentions and no action. This is a lesson in repentance. You stumble, you fall, you hedge, you shift, you fail, but God is always there, ready to pick you up -- if only you will repent.
Repentance takes you beyond good intentions. Repentance is the process of actually becoming the person God wants you to be. No need to blame yourself, over-and-over again, for your failures and your misdeeds. The forgiveness, the healing, the New Life is here and it will change everything for you if only you will open yourself up to receive the Grace of a loving God. We come here with good intentions. We resolve to be Christ's women and men as never before. Then we go back out and we hear the cries for help but we just move on, making excuses all the way.
We have come here today as a People who intend to lead a good life. We want to be Christ's women and men. We want to participate in the affairs of the Christian family. We honestly have good intentions about changing our ways. There is a rock-like quality in us down at the center. But, like Peter, we are rocks that move. We fall, we falter, we fail, we make mistakes, we hurt other people (often the people we love most). We talk about Christian love and we mean to love, but oh how we fail! Time after time after time, even in our own families, we fail in love. Maybe someone else's ego is getting in our way! Maybe we've become emotionally drained from the pressures of our day-to-day situation. Maybe we're just overly tired, physically. That's the way it is! In spite of our good intentions, the edges become a little sharp and they begin to rub up against each other, and we wilt!
"Life Is Just a Bowl Of Cherries" is the title of an old song. It brings to mind the story of an elderly widow who owned a small cherry tree orchard on the edge of town ... When the trees were loaded with cherries, a few children from town would begin throwing stones at the branches, causing some of the luscious fruit to fall to the ground. Then they would rush in, gather up the cherries and eat them.
One day, the widow spotted the children coming and she hid behind a tree. When the kids started throwing stones, she came out from behind the tree, grabbed one of them by the arm, marched him into her house, sat him down at the kitchen table, and left the room. Tears welled up in the boy's eyes as he contemplated his fate. He had visions of the widow returning to flog him with a branch of the very same tree he threw stones at.
When the widow returned, however, instead of a branch in her hand, she carried a plate of delicious- looking, bright-red, freshly-picked cherries which she set before the lad at the kitchen table. And never again did those children throw stones at the kindly widow's cherry trees.
In this sense, life is just a bowl of cherries. That simple little story conveys a profound sense of what "being busy in the Father's affairs" really means. It means empathizing, for example. (In the case of the widow, it meant remembering what it was like when she herself was up to some mischief as a child.) It means being an effective role model, for example. (In the case of the widow it meant acting in a manner in which kindness and understanding prevailed over vengeance.) And for all of us who participate in the Christian family business, it means remembering our Supreme Role Model's response to His tormentors as He neared death on the Cross: "Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing" (Lk. 23:34).
For all of us who have every good intention of becoming busy with our Heavenly Father's affairs, it means loving one another as He has loved us.
The self-centered or the other-centered -- which of the two does the Father's Will?
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