21 March 2020 - Saturday of the 3rd week of Lent - Luke 18:9-14

At St Jude this Lenten season, forgiveness is one of the themes we have been talking about.  Humility is the theme that jumped out to me in our Gospel today.  To me, we cannot really have true forgiveness without humility.  In addition to its role in forgiveness, humility also plays an important role in how we pray to God, in how we live out our life of discipleship, in how we bring the message of Jesus Christ to others.  

We hear of a Pharisee who is praying to God in today’s parable.  In actuality, what the self-righteous Pharisee said is not really a prayer to God, but rather a means of feeling self-righteous and important. It appears that he really saying this prayer to himself, rather than praying this prayer to God.  The Pharisee looks down at others, labeling them “sinners”.  The Pharisee does a lot of good things in his life, but he is arrogant and proud.  God calls us to humility and compassion toward our brothers and sisters, very different from the attitude this Pharisee embraces. 

     The tax collector’s attitude is very different from the Pharisee.  The tax collector stands at the back of the Temple, rather than assuming a position of honor up in front.  The tax collector is so humble that he won’t even lift up his eyes to God.  He confesses his sins and asks for forgiveness.  His prayers come straight from his heart.  The tax collector has done many bad things in his life, but he possesses the virtue of humility, which leads him to repent and to ask forgiveness from God, the merciful Father.  The Pharisee prays without recognizing his need for forgiveness or really for the need for him to be centered in God in his life, but the tax collector prays knows that he needs forgiveness, and so he receives that forgiveness from God.  

I think that at the heart of it, this has been a very humbling experience, hasn’t it, these past few weeks.  I as a priest cannot even open the church to the public in these days when we have to distance ourselves from others.  We have a hard time getting the necessities in life.  We don’t know what the future holds.  We don’t know when we will be able to get back to normal, whatever normal is going to be in the future, and what used to be normal for us may change.  

We pray to God for humility today.  For humility - perseverance - and faith.