Every Catholic Man - Sunday Gospel Bible Study
Learn more about how a man can grow in happiness at EveryCatholicMan.com, including daily Gospel devotions from the Mass for every day of the year. The EveryCatholicMan.com podcast can help a man draw closer to Jesus Christ, learn the Catholic faith and grow in happiness by becoming a better Catholic Son and Catholic Father. In every episode, a man can hear the Gospel reading from the Holy Catholic Mass, hear what Jesus is accomplishing, discover what can lead a man to be more awed by Jesus Christ, grow in happiness, learn from the Catechism, and take action to practice what Jesus and the Catholic Church is teaching in the Gospel. Matthew James Christoff is a Catholic convert and evangelist of Catholic men. Matthew's extensive work to help Catholic men draw closer to Jesus Christ and grow in happiness can be found at EveryCathoilcMan.com. At EveryCatholicMan.com can find daily Gospel devotions from the Mass for every day of the year and a comprehensive set of tools that can help a man grow in holiness and happiness. Matthew is a co-founder of the Catholic Men's Leadership Alliance and HeroicMen.com, the founder of the New Evangelization Project and CatholicManNight.com, and is featured in the Knights of Columbus Into the Breach Video Series. Matthew's professional career includes being a strategy consultant for Fortune 50 companies and a brand manager in a major consumer products company. Matthew has a Masters in Theology from the Augustine Institute, a Masters in Business and a Civil Engineering degree from Purdue University. Matthew is married to his childhood sweetheart, has four married adult children and grandchildren.
Every Catholic Man - Sunday Gospel Bible Study
Episode 94 - Jesus warns men to repent and be obedient to the Almighty Father to be received into Heaven in the Parable of the Two Sons - Sunday October 1, 2023 – Mt 21:28-32
Jesus warns men to repent and be obedient to the Almighty Father to be received into Heaven in the Parable of the Two Sons. Every Catholic man can grow in happiness by seeking the Gift of Counsel from the Holy Spirit so he can more perfectly do the Almighty Father’s Holy Will and by pursuing the Virtue of Prudence so he can recognize his sins and quickly repent when he fails to do God’s Will.
Following Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem during Holy Week and His cleansing of the Temple, the Jewish leaders challenge Jesus, seeking to accuse and kill Him. Jesus, undeterred, aggressively responds, using His infinitely superior wisdom to publicly rebuke His accusers and teach truth.
The Parable of the Two Sons is both a teaching about the need for obedience to God, and a warning about the need for repentance. Men (the sons) are created by God (the father) but tainted by Original Sin (both sons sin). Some men (the first son) rebel against God (“I will not go”), and His will (to work in the vineyard), but come to their senses and repent (the first son does go to the vineyard). Other men (the second son), have the false appearance of obedience ("I go, sir”), but fail to do God’s will (to work in the vineyard).
The Jewish leaders correctly choose the first son (who goes to the vineyard) as the one who does the father’s will, unwittingly damning their own behavior which is like the second son; they claim to follow God but reject God’s messenger, John the Baptist. Jesus, reinforcing the sombre reality of His condemnation using “truly”, reveals some of the worst sinners (tax collectors, harlots), who repented at John the Baptist’s urging, will go into the Kingdom of God before the Jewish leaders, while the Jewish leaders who failed to repent despite witnessing the miraculous conversions of hardened sinners from John the Baptist’s preaching, will follow, or, if they do not repent, will be excluded from Heaven.
Be awed by Jesus Christ
Be awed by Jesus, as He effortlessly exposes and denounces the sinful Jewish leadership: despite His impending violent seizure and murder, Jesus Courageously (a part of Fortitude) confronts the Jewish elites; Divine Prudence, Jesus assesses and shrewdly crafts a short parable to trap and expose the sinfulness of the chief priests and scribes, among the most intelligent of men; perfection of Justice and Divine Judge, Jesus Harshly Condemns the evil of the Jewish leaders by revealing that repentant tax-collectors and prostitutes would be received into Heaven before them, a grave and provocative Insult.
Receive the Spirit to help do the Father’s Will
Realize: Jesus, throughout His life, perfectly did the will of God the Father, demonstrating to every Catholic man that it is necessary to be obedient to God’s will if he hopes to enter Heaven, a truth Jesus emphasizes in today’s parable.
Believe: Reflect upon the need to do the Will of the Father (CCC 541, 2013, 2603, 2611, 2620, 2712, 2750, 2824).
Pray: Holy Spirit, give me the Gift of Counsel so that when I face difficult or confusing decisions, my heart and mind will be opened up, and I will be clearly directed by You to know how to perfectly and joyfully do the Father’s Will.
Quickly repent when you fail to do God’s Will
Realize: Every Catholic man is at times like the second son, who says, “yes” to the will of God the Father, but does not do it; every Catholic man needs to be like the first son who examines his conscience, repents and does the will of the Father.
Believe: Reflect upon the need for Repentance (CCC 541, 674, 1425-1433, 1889, 1226).
Pray: Jesus, Perfection of Prudence, help me grow in the Virtue of Prudence so I have a daily habit of saying, “yes” to God by using my reason to rigorously examine my thoughts, words and behaviors, identify my sins, repent and regularly receive the happiness of being forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance.