Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 23rd October

Luke 18:9–14
Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

Commentary
Today’s Gospel is a sequel to that of last Sunday. It is also about prayer. Last Sunday, Jesus told us about the importance of perseverance in prayer. Today, Jesus tells us another important element of prayer. That is humility.

At the beginning of today’s Gospel, it states clearly that this parable is to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt. Who are they? You may say that it is very obvious that they were the Pharisees. Yes, you are right but not one hundred percent right. Are we not like the Pharisees who trust in ourselves that we are righteous and regard others with contempt? The most important commandment of God is to Love God and our neighbour. If we cannot love our neighbour because we regard others with contempt, how can we love God? If we don’t love God, how will our prayers be answered? This is the relationship between humility and prayer.

The Pharisee in today’s Gospel also reminds us about our inclination to compare with others and to label people. “God, I thank you that I am not like this tax collector,” said the Pharisee. How often we also say such things to others. We judge people from their appearance, from how they dress, where do they live, what car they drive, which school they come from, what job they do, where they spend their holidays, etc. All these tell us that we are proud and not humble as asked by Jesus.

Labeling people has become a popular culture promoted by our mass and social media. It is against the eighth commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” If we hate to be the object of others’ contempt, then we have no right to look down on those whose sins are paraded in the media.

When we are proud, all our doing are to please ourselves instead of praising God. The Pharisee in the Gospel fasted twice a week and gave a tenth of all his income. Such actions are good in natural but he did them to gain honour from others, even from God.

The tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' In this way of prayer, he first professed that God is his master who is perfect and holy, and that he is a sinner who begs for God’s mercy and love.

His humility moved and touched God to answer his prayer as Jesus told us, “This man went down to his home justified rather than the other’, which means the tax collector became a righteous person. His humility is the burning incense in his prayer that reaches God.

St. Ignatius of Loyola suggests us when we go to pray, we first stand there for some moments and look up the heaven as God is present. It is a gesture of our humility. It helps us to revere God. When we pray next time, we pay attention to our body posture to help us to be humble before God. Amen.