30th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

 

Readings: Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14

 

 

"0 God, be merciful to me a sinner."

 

 

The theme of today's parable is similar to that of last Sunday. It is still about prayer. But this time, we are given two opposing models of prayer, or better, models of prayer offered by two contrasting personalities and attitudes. Ironically, the unheard boastful prayer comes from a Pharisee, a supposedly man of God; and the heard humble prayer comes from a tax collector, a man considered to be a public sinner. The comparison of the two bears the lesson of the parable.

 

1. "0 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.” To be fair with this Pharisee, we begin by assuming that he may have just been honest to present a self-evaluation before God. As a Pharisee, he is expected to meet certain standards of morality and religiosity. Thus, he now comes before the altar and starts to recall what he did and had been and become as a man of the Law. At this level, there seems not anything bad. In fact, we have good reasons to suppose that not only this Pharisee has been doing this thing but many and most. But sadly, Jesus finds his prayer unacceptable. Why? Because this Pharisee has become a victim of his own self-righteousness. Get- a closer look at these:

 

 First, he enumerates only the good ones of what he is and is not, only the good things of what he did and did not. Negatively, he tells God that he is not greedy, not dishonest, not adulterous, etc. Positively, he cites before God that he fasts twice a week and pays his tithes. Note, only the good ones. Obviously, this is not true, and can never be true. Meaning, the Pharisee's life - and anyone's life for that matter - ccan never be all "good ones." There must be "bad ones" too. Somewhere down the road, every runner must have stumbled once, twice and even many times. But this Pharisee never mentions any. Either he simply forgets it or chooses to forget it. But either case makes self-righteous. And neither any makes a good prayer.

 

Second, he condemns others by comparing his righteous self especially to those known sinners. “I am not like the rest of humanity... not even like this tax collector.” It may be perhaps true that at least he is less sinful than anybody else in this world. But to declare that others are sinful just because he thinks he is not makes the story different. It makes a perhaps sinless or an indifferent act sinful. This is a common occurrence to people, whose faces are always in the church. They seem to take pride that they are much better than others in many ways. Indeed, they are the modem Pharisee in our surroundings. But this happens, too, to people who do not go to church as often as expected. Perhaps, it would be true for them to be discouraged seeing others go to church often but end up friendless in the neighborhood. But once these non-church goers start saying they are better than those who used to church, they too end up like the Pharisee. Whether others are more sinful or not, that's none of our business, It is purely God's. And to make it a "prayer" (like that of the Pharisee) makes such prayer terribly awful. It defeats even the purest intention to be honest.

 

2. At a distance stands off the Publican, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” This is the prayer of the tax collector who would not even dare to raise up his eyes to heaven in shame of his sinfulness. It is a very brief prayer, but certainly a prayer that has won the favors of heaven. Unlike the Pharisee, this poor tax collector has no moral credentials to show, no religious virtues to enumerate, nothing at all. On the contrary, he has the "sins" that everybody knows. This man is indeed a despicable mortal who enriches himself at the expense of his own countrymen while serving the interests of the Romans. Actually, then, the tax collector is a traitor of his people and a sinner of the Law. But Jesus now makes him the star of his parable. Why? Because such prayer comes from a contrite and humble heart. Mindful of all his transgressions, the Publican implores for God’s mercy and compassion. His only weapon is a humble heart ready to acknowledge his faults before God. And his shield is his trust and confidence that God's mercy and love abound more than the faults he   that he ever did. The Publican's humility is the best and only rightful medium of prayer God is so pleased to hear.

 

3. The two contrasting personalities and attitudes teach us not only about prayer in particular but also about faith and religion in general. Faith and religion has two aspects: external and internal. The external aspect embodies our outward expression of it. That is why we go to church, pray in common, and perform religious devotions in public. Not only that, we have certain rules and regulations to be followed, laws and standards according to which our religious behavior is judged by fellow members and by God. All these things are important. Otherwise, we have no reason to call ourselves a church or a people. This external aspect of religion is personified as it were by the Pharisee. He stands to represent the faithful observer of the Law. Unfortunately, he just goes too far. He makes the Law "the master of his fate and the captain of his soul." He becomes blinded and one-sided by its strict observance. He forgets that there is still another internal aspect of faith and religion which is equally important and in fact more basic. This internal aspect is personified by the Publican. And his prayer is his humble way of expressing his faith and religion. To him, faith is total adherence to God's love, and religion is basically a personal relationship between man and God. That is why God
is more pleased to the lowly and the humble, to those who do their prayers in secret. "The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal," goes the holy man Sirach in our first reading. For such reason, no amount of human external accomplishments however great be a reason to boast. Besides, human experience affirms the wisdom of the parable.

 

4. The above comparison between the Pharisee and the Publican must remind us of the common experience we learn from our surroundings. Persons who speak too much and laud themselves so often are difficult to admire than those who are silent and of low profile. I remember two husbands who once came at separate occasions. One husband confided with some regrets to have strike his wife so badly the previous night. The only reason was: his wife talked too much. She insisted how unfair her husband was by not reciprocating what she had done. She started enumerating all the good things she did and all the bad things about her husband. The entire wife said was true, but she simply talked more than enough. So, she ended up with a prize: bruises! - - - The other husband narrated a totally different experience. He discovered many things about his unfair wife. So, he had all the reasons to strike her. But surprisingly, he could not lift a finger to. And the only reason was: his wife just cried and cried and could not even look at him in shame and regret.

"0 God, be merciful to me a sinner.”