27/09/2026
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time โ Year A
Theme: A Metanoia of the Heart, Not of the Lips
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The readings of today present us with several people who teach us an important lesson about conversion.
In the first reading, the prophet Ezekiel presents us with two situations. There is a righteous person who turns away from his righteousness and begins to do evil. And there is a sinner who turns away from his sinful ways and begins to live according to what is right.
Then, in the Gospel, Jesus gives us the parable of two sons. The father approaches the first son and says, โMy son, go out and work in the vineyard today.โ The son answers, โI will not go,โ but later changes his mind and goes. The father approaches the second son and gives him the same command. He answers, โCertainly, sir,โ but he does not go.
So, who actually did the will of the father?
The answer is clear: the one who eventually went.
This brings us to a beautiful Greek word: metanoia.
Metanoia means a change of mind, a change of heart, a turning around. In the Christian sense, it speaks of conversion: turning away from sin and turning towards God; turning away from hatred and embracing love; turning away from selfishness and embracing generosity; turning away from pride and embracing humility.
The sinner in the first reading undergoes a metanoia. He changes the direction of his life.
The first son in the Gospel also undergoes a metanoia. He initially says no, but later changes his mind and goes to work in the vineyard.
And this is what God asks from each one of us: a constant metanoia of the heart.
Christian life is not a life in which we say the right things but continue to live contrary to what we profess. It is not enough to say, โYes, Lord,โ if our lives continually say, โNo.โ
Sometimes our lips say yes to God, while our actions say no.
We say that we love God, but we refuse to forgive someone.
We say that we believe in charity, but we remain indifferent to the person who needs our help.
We say that we are Christians, but we continue to nourish hatred, jealousy, pride and resentment in our hearts.
We say, โLord, I am yours,โ but our choices show that we belong entirely to ourselves.
This is why the message of today's Gospel is so important: God is interested not only in what comes out of our mouths, but in what comes out of our lives.
There is an English expression: โTalk is cheap.โ
It is easy to talk.
It is easy to make promises.
It is easy to say, โI will pray for you.โ
It is easy to say, โI love you.โ
It is easy to say, โI forgive you.โ
It is easy to say, โI will change.โ
But what gives credibility to our words is our action.
Our words must become flesh in our lives.
Jesus himself is the perfect example.
The second reading gives us one of the most beautiful descriptions of Christ's humility. Though he was in the form of God, he did not cling to his divine glory. Instead, he emptied himself, took the form of a servant and humbled himself, becoming obedient even to death on a cross.
Jesus did not simply speak about love.
He demonstrated love.
He did not simply say that he was willing to give himself for us.
He gave himself for us.
His love was not merely a word from his lips; it became a reality on the cross.
The cross is therefore the greatest expression of the metanoia that God desires from us: a movement from self-centredness to self-giving, from pride to humility, from hatred to love, from death to life.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Perhaps there are areas in our lives where God is asking us to experience a metanoia.
Maybe there is someone we need to forgive.
Maybe there is a sinful habit we need to abandon.
Maybe there is an attitude of pride that we need to surrender.
Maybe we need to become more patient with our spouse, our children, our parents, our brothers and sisters, or the people with whom we work.
Maybe we have said โyesโ to God many times with our lips, but our actions have not followed.
Today, Jesus invites us to change direction.
And the beautiful thing about God is that he does not define us only by our past.
The son who said โnoโ was not condemned to remain a โnoโ forever.
He changed.
The sinner in the first reading was not condemned to remain a sinner forever.
He changed.
This is the hope of Christianity: we can change.
Our past does not have to determine our future.
Our failures do not have to be the final word.
Through God's grace, there can always be a new beginning.
That is metanoia.
It is the grace to say: โI was going in the wrong direction, but now I will turn around.โ
โI was holding hatred, but now I choose forgiveness.โ
โI was living for myself, but now I choose to serve.โ
โI was far from God, but now I return to him.โ
My dear brothers and sisters,
Perhaps today we should not ask ourselves only, โWhat do I say?โ
We should also ask:
โWhat does my life say?โ
When I say that I love, do my actions show love?
When I say that I forgive, do I truly forgive?
When I say that I believe in God, does my life reflect that faith?
When I say that I am a Christian, can people encounter Christ through the way I treat them?
Because at the end of the day, Christianity is not simply about what we say with our lips.
It is about what we become in our hearts and what we do with our lives. It was the actions of the followers of Christ in Antioch that got them the name Christians, followers of Christ. Actions, not just lips sayings.
The first son said no, but later went.
The second son said yes, but never went.
The question for us today is simple:
Which son are we?
And even more importantly:
Where is God asking me to experience a metanoia today?
May the Lord give us the grace not only to speak the language of faith, but to live it.
May he transform our hearts so that our words and our actions may become one.
And may our lives continually move from sin to holiness, from hatred to love, from pride to humility, and from ourselves towards God.
May our metanoia begin in the heart and become visible in our lives.
Amen.
