Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 136

Thus says the LORD: You say, "The LORD's way is not fair!" Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? 


Some primatologists, according to the entertainment media, have argued that bonobos, those great apes which most resemble us, occasionally act compassionately towards one another. They might even have an innate sense of fair play. 
Some child psychologist think children have a sense of fair play. 
Personally, I doubt it; but I am neither a parent nor a primatologist. What I recall from my childhood and the rare occasions I've had in working with children - and none with bonobos - they complain loudly when they don't get the rewards they expected. Which is to say, they're just like adults.
In today's gospel we hear the story of an unhappy father whose sons don't play fair with him. He asks one son to work in the vineyard and the son refuses. He asks the other to work and the second son also refuses, although he said he would do it. "Which one," asks Jesus, "did his father's bidding?" 
We can well imagine the second son's complaint when his father punishes him for both his disobedience and his lying. He might present a dozen "alternate facts" about his non-compliance -- his good intentions, his excuses, his long pointless stories, et cetera -- with the confident assurance that he deserves understanding, compassion and even rewards for his rank disobedience. 
We can easily his imagine his weary father breaking down and treating both sons equally, despite that unfairness. 
But it is more difficult to imagine Jesus, as he endures the agony of the cross, smiling benevolently on the whining and whinging of those who show no mercy. 
We vividly remember his mercy toward the "good thief" who admitted he was being executed justly, for his crimes. 

Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes...

And then that wretched man went beyond every expectation we may have of criminals and showed mercy toward Jesus, "This man has done nothing wrong!" 
When Jesus promised the Good Thief paradise he said nothing to the other wretch. 
The world has not changed since the time of Jesus. There are still billions and billions of opportunities to "go out and work in the vineyard today." No one need look very far to find people who need compassionate help. And there are still billions and billions of excuses for not helping others. 

For it is loyalty that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.