St. Mary Catholic Parish Bangor issued the following announcement on Sept. 27

In the first reading, the Lord God, through His prophet, Ezekiel, corrects the Jewish beliefs that children inherit the guilt of their ancestors and are punished for their sins, and that God is more strict than merciful. God explains that His mercy overrules strict justice and that He will punish us only for our sins, not for the sins of our ancestors. 

The second reading, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, also affirms the truth that the final choice for God, made by perfect obedience to Him, will be rewarded. Paul emphasizes the fact that it is because of Christ’s obedience to God’s will in emptying himself, taking human form and humbling himself by accepting even death on a cross that God the Father exalted Christ, bestowed on him the Name above every other name, and made Jesus the recipient of universal adoration. 

In the parable in today’s Gospel, a man with two sons tells both to go out to work in the vineyard. The first son says he won’t go, but later regrets it and works. The second son says he will go but does not. In each case, it is the final decision that is more important. Jesus teaches through this short parable that repentant taxcollectors and prostitutes, represented by the first son who initially refused to go, will make their way into the Kingdom of God before the chief priests and the elders, represented by the second son in the parable. 

By their pride and their refusal to obey God’s call to repentance, the scribes and the Pharisees are excluding themselves, while the taxcollectors and sinners whom they despised are repenting of their sins and will be accepted into God’s Kingdom. It is a parable on the necessity

Original source can be found here.