Tuesday, December 15, 2026 — Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent
Which son did the father’s will?
Matthew 21:28-32
Readings of the day: Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13; Psalm 34:2-3, 6-7, 17-18, 19, 23; Matthew 21:28-32.
The Gospel
A man tells his two sons to go and work in the vineyard today. The first says no, then changes his mind and goes. The second says yes, sir, and never goes. Jesus asks the chief priests which of the two did the father’s will, and they answer: the first. Then he tells them that tax collectors and prostitutes, who believed John, are entering the Kingdom of God before them, because they saw and still did not change their minds and believe.
Reflection
Words are cheap; the vineyard is where the will of the father is done. Origen notes that in this parable the Lord speaks “to such as promise little or nothing, but in their works shine forth; and against those who promise great things but do none of these things that they have promised.” The first son is the sinner who said no to God and then repented; the second is the one who says all the right words and never moves. “For it is better not to promise righteousness before God, and to do it, than to promise, and to fail,” says Pseudo-Chrysostom. Advent is the season of the first son: it is never too late to change one’s mind, to leave the excuse behind, and to go and work in the vineyard today.
From the Fathers
“In this parable the Lord spoke to such as promise little or nothing, but in their works shine forth; and against those who promise great things but do none of these things that they have promised.”
— Origen, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 21:28–32
“For it is better not to promise righteousness before God, and to do it, than to promise, and to fail.”
— Pseudo-Chrysostom, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 21:28–32
Saint of the day
Saint Mary di Rosa (1813–1855), born Paola Francesca di Rosa in Brescia, Italy. She founded the Handmaids of Charity to nurse the sick and serve the poor, and she died on 15 December 1855. Pope Pius XII canonized her in 1954. The Church also commemorates today Saint Valerian of Abbenza, bishop and martyr under the Vandals.
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Sources: the day’s readings follow the daily lectionary (USCCB, Lectionary 188). The Gospel text is not reproduced here; read it at the link above. Patristic quotes: Catena Aurea on Matthew 21:28–32, compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by John Henry Newman (1841, public domain).