Bridging the Gap Between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’
Reflection for 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Anyone who has the good fortune to visit the Vatican should take up the opportunity to visit the Sistine Chapel and gaze upon the frescoed ceiling painted by the great Rennaisance artist, Michelangelo Buonarotti, the most famous part of which is surely ‘The Creation of Adam.’ There one can see the almost languid Adam, reclining with outstretched arm, while the God of creation, surging with power and love, urgently reaches down to him as though willing creation to respond. In the outstretched hands of God and Adam, the artist has succintly captured the essence of the relationship between human and divine – always reaching, always striving, not yet touching, never quite bridging the gap between earth and heaven.
In this Sunday’s Gospel (Mt 21:28-32), there appears to be a relational gap between the vineyard owner and his two sons. One son says that he will go into the vineyard but doesn’t, the second son says he doesn’t want to, but thinks better of it, and does. There appears a lack of transparency in the relationships – perhaps the sons have been a little spoilt along the way, perhaps they have become accustomed to bargaining for advantages from the father? Jesus offers the best solution for those accustomed to vacillation – ‘Let your ‘no’ be ‘no’ and your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’. (Mt 5:37).
Australia is preparing for a referendum to decide to change the Constitution, adding a few lines to it, to allow an Aboriginal ‘Voice’ to parliament. Yet the Yes and No campaigns are characterised by a singular lack of truth-telling, hoping to swing the referendum results. What is apparent, though, is that the distinction between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ is no longer as clear today as it was in the beginning. There is still a gap between heaven and earth, between father and sons, between First Nations people and ‘the rest’ of the country.
Concurrently, New Zealand is preparing for a general election. In a message to the Catholics of New Zealand, the five bishops of Aotearoa have published a statement urging all people to bridge the gap between who we are and who we want to be. Their exhortation to the Catholics of New Zealand might well apply to us in the complex political and social environment of Australia:
“We are concerned with the growing trivialization of politics, with the focus of politicians and the media being on the mistakes and misdemeanours of individual parliamentarians instead of being on the scandals of poverty, mental health, disadvantage and the dignity of life.” (2023 Election Statement of the Catholic Bishops of Aotearoa New Zealand).
Pope Francis, in his recent book, “Let Us Dream,” writes, “To dream of a different future we need to choose fraternity over individualism as our organising principle. Fraternity . . . is the capacity to come together and work together against a shared horizon of possibility. Such a union preserves and respects plurality, inviting all to contribute as communities of brothers and sisters, concerned for each other” (p.68).
The words of Sunday’s Gospel, the advice of the bishops of New Zealand and the writing of Pope Francis, all seem to come together at a propitious time of history, as we prepare for ‘The Voice’ referendum. May the outcome of the nation’s voting bring an agreeable and workable solution to all parties, such that the ideal of the Uluru Statement from the Heart – that we might all walk together into a shared future – can be realised in our day, and the gap between earth and heaven become bridged just that little bit more.
IMAGE: The Creation of Adam (Wikipedia)