Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In today’s gospel we have yet another short but brilliant piece of storytelling from Luke – the parable of the Pharisee and tax-collector who came the temple to pray (Lk 18:9-14). If we reflect on the parable by itself, then the main theme seems to be, humility. The parable even concludes by saying, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted" (Lk 18:14). However, if we reflect on the parable along with last week’s parable about the persistent widow and the uncaring judge (Lk 18:1-8), then the parable seems to be a continuation of Jesus’ teaching on prayer.
This does not mean that the themes of humility and pride, self-righteousness and trusting God’s mercy are not important. Rather, they are important precisely in the context of prayer.
Here are my three points for today:
Unpretentious Prayer
Let me begin with a story which I may have shared previoulsy. In the early years of my seminary life, I began to explore the depths of prayer. I would often spend considerable amount of time in prayer. These moments of quiet prayer gave me much contentment. I would look forward to spending more time in prayer. Ironically though, my prayer was beginning to give me a sense of superiority over other seminarians. As I saw it, they did not spend time in prayer. I began to consider myself better than others. Things got worse before they got better. I even reached a stage when I would feel unhappy to see certain seminarians pray, especially, those with whom I couldn’t get along. I felt that I was losing my spiritual superiority over them. It took me some time to discover that all those times that I thought I was in prayer, I was like the Pharisee in today’s gospel reading.
Jesus’ parable is a caution on how the love of God can easily turn into an idolatrous self-love; on how, faith, which is a gift, can so easily become a possession; on how, prayer which is the work of the Holy Spirit can so easily be turned into self-accomplishment. Even worse, our relationship with God can become a way for us to remind God of other people’s deficiencies.
Let us examine our prayer and our life. May we not succumb to pretentious prayer.
Praying to Myself or Praying to God
There is a detail in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector that I find very interesting. Luke says, “The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself…” (Lk 12:11). The Pharisee “spoke the prayer to himself.” Even though his prayer is addressed to God, it is really addressed to himself. His prayer was an exercise in self-love and self-righteousness. It was idolatry.
There is another way – the way of humility, honesty, simplicity, and truth. The tax-collector’s prayer is sincerely addressed to God. The tax-collector recognizes his own deficiency rather than the deficiency of others. He acknowledged that he is a sinner and recognized his need for God’s mercy. He finds no righteousness of his own but pleads, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Lk 18:13).
Luke does not hesitate to let us know the difference between the prayer of the Pharisee and the tax-collector. The Pharisee left the temple justified only in his own eyes because his prayer was to himself. The tax-collector, on the other hand, was justified in God’s eyes. As Sirach says in today’s first reading, “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds” (Sir 35:21).
Once again, this week let us examine our life and our prayer. If we feel proud of our prayer; if we feel justified by our own prayer; if our prayer makes us feel better than others, it is no longer prayer. For that matter, if we feel superior to others because we are Catholics; if we feel entitled before God because of our citizenship, our race, our identity, our status, or our wealth; if we treat others with disdain because they are not who we think they should be, then isn’t our prayer and worship a farce? “For”, as Jesus says, “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted" (Lk 18:14).
Prayer as an Extension of Life
Last week, basing my homily on the parable of the persistent widow and the uncaring judge, I had titled my homily, “Life is Prayer, Prayer is Life”. Considering the parable of Pharisee and the tax-collector let me say that differently. Prayer is an extension of life and life is an extension of prayer.
The Pharisee and the tax-collector came to the temple to pray in the same way that they lived life in society. In other words, when they came into the temple, the character of the Pharisee and the tax-collector was consistent with who they were in life.
The moral of the story is simple. Our prayer is only going to be who are in life. If we are angry and divisive people, then our prayer is going to be angry and divisive. If we judge people and condemn people as we go about our lives, then we carry these attitudes into our prayer. If we are humble, honest, simple, and loving people in society, then our prayer will be humble, honest, simple, and loving. Prayer is an extension of life and life is an extension of prayer.
This week, let us explore the connection between our life and prayer. When we come before God in prayer, are we the same people who live our life out there? And what we live out there, is it consistent with our prayer? If there is a dichotomy between our life and our prayer, we need to address it in humility before God.
Today, at this hour, we are in God’s house for prayer and worship. Today, may we leave the temple justified not only in our eyes, but in the eyes of God.
- Fr. Satish Joseph