October 23^rd2016.Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Luke 18:9-14

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Luke 18:9-14

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
‘O 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.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The parable in the Gospel presents us with two types of “prayer”. The first does not deserve to be called prayer at all, because it is less an act of thanksgiving before God as a listing of the reasons why God ought to be thankful for the virtues of this Pharisee. The second is a prayer for the heart from a sinful tax collector who pleads for mercy. Authentic prayer always begins from our own poverty and misery before the Lord. It is only when we are conscious of our need for salvation that we place ourselves before God in correct manner. Jesus tells us that, after his heartfelt prayer, the tax collector returns home in right relationship with God. After prayer, when we “return home”, that is when the authenticity of our prayer can be measured. If we are not different than we were before prayer then our prayer was not authentic. If we remain the exact same egoistic individual, then our prayer is a profanation, an occupying of sacred space in an unworthy manner. It may seem ironic, but it is our awareness of our poverty and misery that is the only correct starting point for prayer.

God shows a distinct preference for the prayer of the poor and humble

The Gospel this Sunday is prepared for us by the first reading from the book of Ecclesiasticus. Here we read certain Wisdom sayings that appear to speak of God’s impartiality. But in reality it is not quite accurate to say that God is impartial. We hear that “the prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal”. The prayer of the poor person has two characteristics: it has great power and it will not cease until it attains its goal. The Lord does have his preferences after all; the clouds open before the prayers of the poor. Other passages in the Old Testament tell how God look upon the humble and prefers the poor man who turns to him with a simple prayer.

When we are conscious of our own poverty, then we place ourselves before God in prayer in a completely different way. We are aware of our need for salvation and our incapacity to save ourselves

In the Gospel from Luke two types of prayer are contrasted, one that arrives in heaven and the other that falls short. One of the characters is a publican, a class of people who collaborated with the Romans and would have profited unjustly by extracting money from the people. Despite this, his prayer is heard and he is justified – made righteous in the sight of God. In other words, he enters into a right relationship with God. The other character lists the things that he has done. He is not greedy, dishonest, or adulterous. He fasts twice a week, and pays tithes on his whole income. We have no reason to doubt the honesty of what the Pharisee is saying but these words do not constitute a prayer. He claims to be thanking God, but in reality he is listing the reasons why God should be thankful to him. He places himself before God with no awareness of what he is lacking, no consciousness of his own insignificance. The things he has done are enumerated but he has no conception of the great things that God can do for him. In contrast with the Pharisee, the tax collector has knowledge of himself; he knows that he lacks everything. To know that we are in a state of sin is a great point of departure with God. Moreover, the Pharisee is completely lacking in love. At the beginning of the passage we are told that Jesus recounted this parable “to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else”. The Pharisee does not know that he is someone marked by the tendency to look at others with disdain; that he is incapable of looking at others with benevolence. His prayer begins with the words, “I thank you Lord that I am not like others”. This is not a valid way to begin to address the Lord! Those who think that they are reasonably righteous become weary very quickly in prayer and end up speaking only about themselves. By contrast the publican says, “O God, have mercy on me a sinner”. Here, the point of departure is the sentiment that God is more powerful than him and is capable of saving him. If God does not come to his aid then he knows that he will remain nothing else but a sinner.

After prayer, we should “return home” differently. If my prayer is authentic then I will not remain the same identical person as before, the same type of egoist as before. But if I remain the same as before, then my prayer is a profanation.

We are told in the parable that the publican returns home justified in the sight of God. After prayer we must always “return home” in an important sense. It is possible to put together liturgical ceremonies that would rival a spectacle on Broadway, but the real issue is what we take home with us afterwards. This is where the true efficacy of prayer is measured. After we have finished our prayer, in what condition do we return to the ordinary things of life? If we are the same identical person before we pray and afterwards, if we remain the same type of egoist as before, then our prayer is a profanation, an occupation of sacred space in an unworthy manner. The prayer of the tax collector, by contrast, pierces the clouds and changes him. He has authentic sorrow that is based on the concrete facts of his wrongdoing. Secondly, his prayer is not an outward show of piety but an effort to establish an authentic relationship with God, a petition for the Lord to act in his life. He beats his breast, demonstrating his awareness that the problem is in his own heart, the seat of the choices he has made and the things he has done. Like last Sunday, the theme this week again is prayer, and we are shown that prayer must begin from the point of view of our own poverty, that which is miserable, unresolved and unsightly within us. Curiously enough, it is exactly this poverty that brings us authentically into the presence of God.