Fr. Alex Roman
I want to start this refection about the readings of the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C, with an expression of the first reading, “the man who serves God with his whole heart will be accepted, his petitions will carry to the clouds.” So the prayer of the humble pierces the clouds; it (prayer) does not rest until it reaches its goal nor will it retreat until the Most High responds justly to the judges and affirms the right.
Luke presents Jesus in constant prayer. As we read the Gospel of Luke, we find many texts that speak about Jesus' prayer. For example, in these chapters of the Gospel of Luke Jesus appears absorbed in prayer: Luke 2: 48-49; 23:46; 24:30). Jesus lived in continuous contact with the Father. In Jesus, prayer was intimately linked to his real, daily life and to the decisions he had to make. He did it like any other pious Jew.
In today's Gospel, Jesus, to teach about prayer, tells the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Jesus shows something very positive in the tax collector, while most people would have said that he was unable to pray. Then he gives his judgment.
The parable applies to the time of Jesus, but it also applies to our own time. There are always people and groups of people who consider themselves just and righteous, and who despise others, considering them ignorant and unfaithful.
The Pharisee thanks God because he thinks he is better than all others. His prayer is nothing more than paying a compliment to himself, and praising his own behavior, while despising others, especially the tax collector. The tax collector instead does not even look up, but he beats his breast and says, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!. He puts himself in his place, when he comes before God.
The tax collector knows that he has way of claiming justice. He has not done anything good; in fact, he has done much to offend the law of Israel. For this reason, he abandons himself to the mercy of the Lord.
Jesus’ judgment is quite different from that of the Pharisee. For Him, the one who returns home justified and in a good relationship with God, is not the Pharisee, but the tax collector. Jesus turns all things around. It is true that the religious authorities of the time would not have approved Jesus’ final judgment.
At the end of this story, the Pharisee left the temple and returned home unchanged and unforgiven. The tax collector, instead, left the temple and returned home justified, i.e. clean and forgiven.
Fr. Alex. sx.
I want to start this refection about the readings of the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C, with an expression of the first reading, “the man who serves God with his whole heart will be accepted, his petitions will carry to the clouds.” So the prayer of the humble pierces the clouds; it (prayer) does not rest until it reaches its goal nor will it retreat until the Most High responds justly to the judges and affirms the right.
Luke presents Jesus in constant prayer. As we read the Gospel of Luke, we find many texts that speak about Jesus' prayer. For example, in these chapters of the Gospel of Luke Jesus appears absorbed in prayer: Luke 2: 48-49; 23:46; 24:30). Jesus lived in continuous contact with the Father. In Jesus, prayer was intimately linked to his real, daily life and to the decisions he had to make. He did it like any other pious Jew.
In today's Gospel, Jesus, to teach about prayer, tells the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Jesus shows something very positive in the tax collector, while most people would have said that he was unable to pray. Then he gives his judgment.
The parable applies to the time of Jesus, but it also applies to our own time. There are always people and groups of people who consider themselves just and righteous, and who despise others, considering them ignorant and unfaithful.
The Pharisee thanks God because he thinks he is better than all others. His prayer is nothing more than paying a compliment to himself, and praising his own behavior, while despising others, especially the tax collector. The tax collector instead does not even look up, but he beats his breast and says, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!. He puts himself in his place, when he comes before God.
The tax collector knows that he has way of claiming justice. He has not done anything good; in fact, he has done much to offend the law of Israel. For this reason, he abandons himself to the mercy of the Lord.
Jesus’ judgment is quite different from that of the Pharisee. For Him, the one who returns home justified and in a good relationship with God, is not the Pharisee, but the tax collector. Jesus turns all things around. It is true that the religious authorities of the time would not have approved Jesus’ final judgment.
At the end of this story, the Pharisee left the temple and returned home unchanged and unforgiven. The tax collector, instead, left the temple and returned home justified, i.e. clean and forgiven.
Fr. Alex. sx.