Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A

There is a story told by the Cherokees about a fight that goes on inside each person, a terrible conflict between two wolves, one good and one evil. The evil one is anger, arrogance, resentment, lust, laziness, selfishness, ego and the like. The good one is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, benevolence, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. This fight goes on inside every human being. The question is, “Which wolf will win?” The answer: “The one we feed.”

Ezekiel points out how justice is dispensed to God’s people, rewarding the just and punishing the unjust. We should understand that God’s way is not to base judgment on isolated actions, but to look at the context and entirety of a person’s way of living. In other words, a virtuous person who has lived a good life but makes some mistakes will not be condemned for isolated moments of weakness, like the first son in saying “No” but later reconsidering. The message of Ezekiel is that a person who once was good but continually moves away from God by bad choices will come to punishment eventually because they embark on a way of living that moves them away from God. However, those who make mistakes, and change their minds, return to living a virtuous life, and will eventually be rewarded. This story, then, is about the bigger picture of the scope of life, in contrast to judging a person’s worth by isolated bad acts, acknowledging that repentance paves the way for those who make mistakes because of human frailty to get back on track to a good and just life.

Let’s look at the story of the two sons in this light. Each had a history with the father throughout his life. This was one incident among many in which they encountered the temptation to obey or not. In all probability, one son was used to doing the responsible thing, the other not. We can imagine that the son who said “yes” but really meant “no” was often self-absorbed and deceptive, while the other tended toward being obedient and trustworthy most of the time. In a moment of defiance the first son rebelled, then thinking it over, changed his mind, realizing what was the right thing to do. In another translation of this passage it was said that “he thought better of it,” an apt expression that paints a more accurate picture of a person, like all human beings, prone to human weakness. Maybe the father caught him at a bad time; he may have been annoyed or angry about something else, and so said no without thinking. But after further consideration, weighing his relationship with his father, he saw the importance of doing what his father wanted; he thought better of it.

The son who said “Yes” but didn’t follow through was merely paying lip service to his father, and rather than looking bad, decided it was better not to tell him to his face, but simply sin by omission. Doubtless this was done on other occasions as well, and he knew it was easier to say “yes” and just avoid responsibility.

It is possible that those to whom this story was told, the early community of believers, had some experience of “second thoughts” after their first fervor of conversion. In other words, when the reality of the cost of discipleship hit home, and they were faced with trials and even persecution, some wavered and were in need of forgiveness for their human weakness. There were some in that community, the stalwarts who may have been in favor of not forgiving, not being compassionate in the face of human weakness.

This story highlights the difference between taking responsibility and taking the easy way, between repentance and avoidance. Repentance is built on humility, and humility means seeing the truth about ourselves as flawed humans who sometimes make bad decisions because of human frailty. But after reflecting on these decisions, we think better about what we are doing and stop, ask forgiveness, and get back on track. The humble person practices what Paul said about Jesus emptying himself. As we acknowledge that we make mistakes and then think better, changing our behavior, we empty ourselves of being self-absorbed and proud. The son who just paid lip service to his father chose to be “full of himself” while the other humbly acknowledged his mistake, thought better of how this might affect his relationship with his father, and emptied himself in order to get back on track in that loving relationship.

There is in each of us a tendency to be both of these sons, like the two wolves in the Cherokee story. Over the course of our lives we are tempted to act in ways contrary to what we know we should do, our humility and integrity called into question. What prevails is up to us. Which one will we feed?