Gospel for September 25, 2011 (Sunday)
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
"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 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.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him."
- Matthew 21:28-32
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
"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 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.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him."
- Matthew 21:28-32
* * *
The other day (Wednesday, September 21st - UN International Day of Peace), the principal of the school (in Alabang) where I work, and I were supposed to go to Miriam College (in Quezon City), upon the invitation of the Associate Director of their Center for Peace Education, to view a film that they were showing to their students in celebration of the International Day of Peace. However, the night before, my boss informed me that she had some urgent meetings to attend to and said that it was up to me if I still wanted to proceed to Miriam.
My first instinct was not to go anymore, since it was pretty far away (opposite end of 'my world'!), plus I also still had a lot of work to do at school. However, I felt a strong prompting to make the effort and go! So I changed my mind and went.
Sure enough, the documentary was nothing short of inspiring! I was soooo glad I decided to go! It was the much-needed "boost" -- for me to start working on something that has been waiting in the wings for quite sometime now. (You Tube has a 3-minute summary of the 80-or-so-minute film which we viewed. I invite you to watch it after reading this blog. Just click here.)
Anyway, that same evening, I was invited to a dinner for a priest-friend from Nigeria who was in town for a vacation (he used to be a guest priest in our parish a few years ago). Since I already hosted a dinner in my home for this same priest about a week prior, I once again, thought of not going. This time, it was my best friend who encouraged me to come along. So for the second time that day, I changed my mind and went.
And for the second time, I was really "blessed because I came" (some of you would know that this is a borrowed line from a song!). It turned out that it wasn't just any regular fellowship-type of dinner, but we also had a "caring circle" afterward. [A caring circle or CC is an activity where we read a Bible passage -- usually the coming Sunday's mass readings -- and then share with one another a line, phrase or sentence that "strikes" us the most and why. Usually we relate it to personal experiences or what it means to us]. It had been sometime since I last attended one and it felt really good being able to share His Word with the people who were there that night.
In fact, this blog post is exactly what I shared with my friends in the CC that night. I shared with them the two "changing of minds" I made that day -- and I further reflected on why I almost didn't go to both. I realized it was mostly because of convenience and plain laziness. And this made me remember what I wrote in my previous entry about the Comfort Zone vs. the Courage Zone.
Staying put in Alabang was the Comfort Zone choice while going to Miriam was the Courage Zone choice. Staying home and doing other things would have been sticking to my Comfort Zone, but choosing to spend that evening with our priest-friend was stepping out into my Courage Zone. But like I mentioned in that last post, great things do happen every time you decide to go into your Courage Zone... and this experience certainly proved it!
May you too, be blessed as you continue to "change your mind" everyday and endeavor to seek His Will in everything that you do!
My first instinct was not to go anymore, since it was pretty far away (opposite end of 'my world'!), plus I also still had a lot of work to do at school. However, I felt a strong prompting to make the effort and go! So I changed my mind and went.
Sure enough, the documentary was nothing short of inspiring! I was soooo glad I decided to go! It was the much-needed "boost" -- for me to start working on something that has been waiting in the wings for quite sometime now. (You Tube has a 3-minute summary of the 80-or-so-minute film which we viewed. I invite you to watch it after reading this blog. Just click here.)
Anyway, that same evening, I was invited to a dinner for a priest-friend from Nigeria who was in town for a vacation (he used to be a guest priest in our parish a few years ago). Since I already hosted a dinner in my home for this same priest about a week prior, I once again, thought of not going. This time, it was my best friend who encouraged me to come along. So for the second time that day, I changed my mind and went.
And for the second time, I was really "blessed because I came" (some of you would know that this is a borrowed line from a song!). It turned out that it wasn't just any regular fellowship-type of dinner, but we also had a "caring circle" afterward. [A caring circle or CC is an activity where we read a Bible passage -- usually the coming Sunday's mass readings -- and then share with one another a line, phrase or sentence that "strikes" us the most and why. Usually we relate it to personal experiences or what it means to us]. It had been sometime since I last attended one and it felt really good being able to share His Word with the people who were there that night.
In fact, this blog post is exactly what I shared with my friends in the CC that night. I shared with them the two "changing of minds" I made that day -- and I further reflected on why I almost didn't go to both. I realized it was mostly because of convenience and plain laziness. And this made me remember what I wrote in my previous entry about the Comfort Zone vs. the Courage Zone.
Staying put in Alabang was the Comfort Zone choice while going to Miriam was the Courage Zone choice. Staying home and doing other things would have been sticking to my Comfort Zone, but choosing to spend that evening with our priest-friend was stepping out into my Courage Zone. But like I mentioned in that last post, great things do happen every time you decide to go into your Courage Zone... and this experience certainly proved it!
May you too, be blessed as you continue to "change your mind" everyday and endeavor to seek His Will in everything that you do!
I read your blog with much gusto. As an avid reader, I have come to cherish other people's thoughts because God speaks to us through everything. Keep it up Bambi. @ Fr. Chi
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