Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
Today’s gospel invites us all to re-examine the way we pray - namely, the type of prayer that God truly desires. Do we focus on ‘what we aren’t’ like the Pharisee, or do we focus on ‘who we are’ like the tax collector. The difference determines are ability to let Christ into our hearts.
In my experience, when the ego (the self-centered part of us) becomes so inflated that we spend our precious time focusing on other people and their sin, we lack the self awareness and humility to truly open ourselves to God in our prayer. The obsession moves away from being honest about me to being angry or judgmental about "them." Not that it is laced with hatred - but just your classic passive aggressive venting that fills your conversations and slowly takes away from your true prayer time.
The ego cares more about what we aren't.
In this Lenten season, this story of a Pharisee and a tax collector gives us insight on one of the main aspects of Lent: prayer. I don’t know about you, but my prayer continues to be flakey and, honestly, rather bland. I don’t quite take the time to bring the level of pure truth as the tax collector does. And when this happens, I more so act like the Pharisee: “I did the prayer and the fasting for you, Jesus. I’m not a serial killer or corrupt politician, so I’m doing pretty good you could say, right?”...right? (See that I'm waiting for my reward for everything I think I'm deserving of…)
Praying without heart revolves around what we aren't.
Jesus teaches us in this gospel reading that prayer is not an exercise of pointing out the wrong in the world, nor of making a case for our sainthood. It is, on the other hand, a desperate embrace with the God who sees us as we truly are - a sinner. A beloved sinner on a path to redemption, won at the very sacrifice we approach on Good Friday.
A Christ-centered, humble prayer is about who we are.
My hope for us all is that our prayer grows from a list of words to an honest conversation, from pointing out the flaws we see in the world to inward look at what we need to improve in ourselves.
And let us seek to share with our Merciful God ‘who we are’ and then be transformed by this encounter to build a more humble world.
-Joe Oliveri