Christ Our Savior Parish issued the following announcement.

St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians extols and crystalizes the earthly mission of Jesus by affirming that, “Though He was in the form of God, He emptied himself, humbled Himself becoming obedient to the point of death” By willingly surrendering and emptying himself, Jesus defines the true meaning of “doing the will of God, the Father”. The gospel this week seems to ask us, the children of God, a poignant question if we are doing God’s will or our own. Doing the will of God is much more than a mere verbal expression. It requires livingout commitments with humble hearts. 

Even the elders and the chief priests, whose longheld thinking focused on ceremony and formality as the way to follow God’s will had been challenged by Jesus, had to agree. If so, we need to discern the consistency and the compatibility between what we say and what we do. Whether we identify ourselves as the first son in the parable who casually says ”no” to his father’s order to work in his vineyard and later does, or as the second son who politely says “yes” and later does not, there is always room to correct ourselves and improve our efforts in doing God’s will. It is easier said than done, isn’t it? Do we mean what we say and say what we mean? Do our lives and practices reflect our faith which we hold dearly in our hearts? Should “doing the will of God” be primarily measured out by our human success and accomplishments? It is an inspiration to see a good number of unselfish veteran clergy, dedicated priests, creative lay leaders and many humble faithful doing the will of God during these challenging times of the pandemic, the diocesan reorganization and increasing skepticism about church institutions. 

May we always be the humble, courageous, openminded and unselfish workers in the Lord’s Vineyard of our parish! May we also put aside our own egos and personal interests so that the will of God can be done!

Original source can be found here.