GOSPEL , Luke 18, 9-14
Jesus spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else: ‘Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, “I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of mankind, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get.” The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’
WORDS FOR LIFE
In today’s Gospel, Luke introduces the parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee thanks God that he is not like the rest of humanity but the tax collector beats his breast and prays, «O God, be merciful to me a sinner». The tax collector humbles himself before God, contrite of heart, as opposed to the Pharisee who exalts himself, convinced of his own righteousness.
According to Saint Teresa of Jesus, only through authentic humility are we able to «walk with God in truth». Thus, by standing before God in humble prayer, we will receive the grace of sharing in Christ’s humility through his spiritual guidance which is a vital part of being a Christian.
