Ez 18:25-28
Phil 2:1-11
Mt 21:28-32

Actions Speak Louder than Words.

Have you ever told someone you would do something for that person and then did not follow through and do it? Our hearts, intensions and words are important, but the actions that reflect them are more important. In Sunday’s gospel reading, Jesus uses an example that illustrates this. “A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ He said in reply, ‘I will not, ‘but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go. ‘Which of the two did his father’s will’? They answered, ‘The first.’” Which son do you identify with?

The second reading clearly tells us the attitude and actions required to meet the needs of others.

Brothers and sisters: If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.

To believe that others are more important than ourselves is not an easy attitude to own. We live in a society that tells us that I come first, not you. The virtues listed in this short excerpt tell us what is needed to believe that others are important. Paul is describing Jesus, how Jesus acted toward others and who we should emulate. 

Our outward appearance can seem to others that we are doing what is right, but in truth, we may be doing wrong. In other words, we may seem to be listening to God’s call in our lives, but we are offering only lip service. “Actions speak louder than words.” How true this short sentence is in our lives and the lives of those around us.

How well do your words match your actions?

What can you do to deepen your desire to match the attitudes and actions of Jesus?