Do we need to remind God to do certain things for us? In the First Reading, God takes the prophet Ezekiel’s complaint: “The LORD’s way is not fair!” God allows the prophet to see a different perspective. God always provides his mercy and never tires of offering the sinner another chance. God is abundantly slow to anger and rich in mercy.

Saint Paul tells us that in Christ we find encouragement, solace, love, compassion, and mercy. All these things that make us faithful begin with Christ, not ourselves. He is the source of compassion, mercy, and love. When we begin to receive these things from His Cross, we become the very image of what God calls us to be.  

In today’s Gospel, Jesus spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people and gave them a striking statement: “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.” He tells the parable of the two sons. It is the first who, while he said no to working in the vineyard the first time, got up and did the will of God. Here, God is rich in mercy and patient with us as we make decisions in life. The second son refused the father’s will. God never tires of waiting for us, but we have only time now to decide and do His will.

The psalmist gives us depth to ponder God’s mercy. “Remember your mercies, O Lord.” God is not forgetful. We are the ones who are forgetful. By calling out to God to remember his mercies, God places a mirror before us to see our reflection, reveal our own discernment, and remind us that he has always been there for us, walked every step with us, and infused our hearts with his presence. God is never absent.

Psalm 25 is an acrostic psalm, where each new line begins with a consecutive letter of the alphabet. This Hebrew device expresses fullness or completeness. Using every letter of the Hebrew alphabet symbolically suggests breath, comprehensiveness, and abundance. We will not hear Psalm 25:14 this Sunday, but it is worth noting: “The Lord’s secret.” A lifelong pursuit of wisdom is the secret that opens the way to God’s abundant blessing. So never stop learning!

God is not forgetful! In fact, God always reminds us, in ways he knows best, of his mercy and presence. God is patient and waits for us to respond, but we only have this one life to respond now. Let’s open our hearts, listen with ears of the heart, and respond to the generous love of God right now.