Once again Jesus in the Gospel of Luke
teaches us about prayer. We had learned
about prayer in Chapter 11 where Jesus tells the disciples how to pray the Lord’s
Prayer. In the same chapter He then
teaches on persistence in praying by the parable of the man urging his friend
for bread in the middle of the night.
Last Sunday we were given the parable of the persistent widow pleading
with the unjust judge. Again Jesus taught
on persistence in prayer. Today, on the Thirtieth
Sunday in Ordinary Time in Year C, Jesus, by comparing the prayers of the Pharisee and tax collector, teaches us on what He values most in
prayer.
Here is the Gospel passage.
Jesus addressed this parable to
those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.
"Two people went up to the
temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position
and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the
rest of humanity -- greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax
collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.'
But the tax collector stood off at a
distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and
prayed,
'O God, be merciful to
me a sinner.'
I tell you, the latter went home
justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the
one who humbles himself will be exalted."
~Lk 18:9-14
Fr. Joseph Mary shines again
this week with a homily explaining the passage.
“Who do we look down on? Who do we judge? Who do we raise ourselves above? People with hair dyed red and body piercings? Gamblers and junkies, pregnant teenagers and lapsed Catholics, those who only attend on Easter and Christmas. On whose broken backs have we climbed to enshrine our own piety? We are often not too different than the Pharisee.” -Fr. Joseph Mary at his most convicting.
The pastoral homily
from Archbishop Edward Wiesenberger is equally penetrating.
We can also add St. Catherine of Siena’s quote to the Archbishop’s list of humility where God tells Catherine, "I am the one who is and you are the one who is not." What Jesus values most is humility.
Sunday Meditation: "Jesus addressed this parable to those who were
convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.”
Let us be conscious to whom Jesus addressed this parable, lest it be you.
This is a good Sunday for “Amazing Grace.” Here’s a lovely version by someone named Rosemary
Siemens.
I have never heard of her, but lovely.
