Annually, during the month of October, The Church observes and celebrates World Mission Day. This year our annual worldwide Eucharistic celebration for the Missions and missionaries of the world will be held on the weekend of October 21st-22nd. Pope Francis chose a theme inspired by the story of the disciples on their way to Emmaus, in the Gospel of Luke (cf. 24:13-35): "Hearts on fire, feet on the move"

Again, this weekend there is an array of choices in our gospel parable: shall we refuse a direct, personal invitation to God’s wedding feast, or will we be uncaring or indifferent in our choices by putting something else (work, spots or a comfortable Sunday morning) as a priority above the invitation to know God? Will we finally become so obtuse that we shall choose evil as our response to His ongoing invitation?

I have chosen you from the world to bear fruit! I added the exclamation point. Today’s parable closes out last week’s parable of the two sons—one who was open to God’s call—by way of a slow conversion. The other son said, “Sure, dad, I will do Your Will” but then goes back to his own indifference—nothingness.

In this 26th week of Ordinal Time, the Gospel of Matthew presents a parable and asks for “your opinion” on the topic of openness to God’s Will in the lives of two sons. This same question should be asked of ourselves—“Am I open to doing God’s Will in my life?” On the other hand, is God’s Will too inconvenient or too stressful for me in today’s world? Will it cause someone in my family or circle of friends to feel uncomfortable, embarrassed or will it cause a rift in our friendship? Will people think I am weird or fanatical if I do God’s Will in my life?