The scripture for today's reflection can be found at Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB
There's an old country song that came out a number of years ago that goes, "It's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way." I imagine that the Pharisee in today's gospel would be able to relate to that sentiment. There he is bragging to God about all the good things he's done. He's proud that he's not like everyone else, but rather fasts twice a week and pay tithes on his whole income. He's saying to God, "Look at how great I am!" And he goes on further, "I'm glad I'm not like that guy over there. HE'S A GREAT SINNER!! I'm glad I'm not like him. See, God, how GREAT I am!" He fails to see his own dependance of God.
Meanwhile, the tax collector realizes his dependance on God and how imperfect he is: "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." The tax collector realizes his need to depend on God for forgiveness. He recognizes his shortcomings and sinfulness and sees the need to turn away from sin and to turn to God to seek forgiveness.
Further, things that the Pharisee is bragging about: the fasting and tithing, are all good things to do, if done in the right spirit. They need to be done out of love of God and in gratitude for all the blessings and good things that come from God. Instead, the Pharisee was taking attention away from God, and was showing a lack of humility. He was proud, boastful and judgmental of other people and how he felt they fell short in their relationship with God. The Pharisee lacked the love and compassion towards the tax collector that God expects us all to have towards everyone.
In our relationship with God, let us remember that we are all sinful people, all falling short of what we should be in the eyes of God. Let us continue to develop that relationship with God through the regular use of prayer and reflection on scripture, frequent reception of the Eucharist, and the regular use of the sacrament of confession. We are to realize our need of God's love and forgiveness in our lives.
Finally, let us not judge other people in our lives. Everyone is on a journey towards God, and we are all in different places during that journey. We are to pray for others, and possibly help them in this road to God, even if it's only through prayer for them. But we are not to judge them in their relationship with God. It is only God that can judge where a person is at in their relationship with Him.
Let us sometime today take time to re-read this gospel, reflect on what the Lord Jesus is trying to teach us in our journey towards better relationship with God. And let us, with the tax collector, say, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner.
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reference to the MAC DAVIS song!
One of my FACEBOOK friends posted something he had heard in a homily on this GOSPEL: "if you don't see the Pharisee in yourself, you are probably not the tax collector."
I acknowledge that I can relate to that Pharisee because I have always sought to avoid sin & to do good & I am actively involved in Church ministries.
I would not dare to be so arrogant as to boldly declare that I alone am good & everyone else is bad, because I think there are many people in the world who are as good as or better than I am as well as people who are worse than I am, & I acknowledge that I don't know what I would be like if not for the grace of GOD. And there are some who are strong where I am weak & weak where I am strong & we all have different gifts from GOD.
I feel a definite challenge to find the place where I am standing up for righteousness without being self-righteous. We have a definite obligation to stand up for what is right & to fight evil & at the same time not to be self-righteous or judgmental. So that is a very fine line & it's easy to fall over on the right side (judging) or the left side (failing to stand up for what is right & getting caught up in moral relativism) & to remain walking on that straight fine line.
The people I find hardest not to judge--the "tax collectors" that bring out the "Pharisee" in me are the politicians who are strong & extreme advocates of abortion even in the latter stages of pregnancy & for any reason whatsoever & who are attacking pregnancy resource centers & pro-life organizations &fighting to counteract the overturning of the heinous Roe v Wade decision after we FINALLY, after almost 50 years of prayer, got this overturned, especially when these politicians call themselves "Catholic". They virtually "make my blood boil": they are doing what is evil & it is hard not to judge them to be evil people.