A
reading from the holy Gospel according to 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 everyone who
exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be
exalted.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
The first line of today’s Gospel hit me over the head. Jesus
addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else. Well,
doesn’t that sound like the world we are living in. Sadly, people in our nation and church have
become polarized. The vast majority are
good people doing the best they can. I
think it’s time we give each other some slack.
I remember a long time ago thinking
to myself, “Why can’t so-and-so be more like me; they’re driving me crazy.” I got an immediate response, “In MY image and
likeness, not yours.” I
had to laugh. It’s funny how our loving God knows just when we need a little
shove to get us back on course.
I wonder
sometimes if we drive God crazy with
our antics. I
believe our Creator has a sense of humor. Hopefully, being created in God’s image, we
can share God’s humor and look kindly and with deep understanding toward our
sisters and brothers who differ from us.
St Alphonsus, knowing his own faults and failures said, “You, my God, are crazy in love with me, how can I not become crazy with love for You?”
Our crazy God took pity on us when our humankind did
not listen to Moses and the prophets by sending Jesus to redeem us. Christ lived
and died for us that we might follow his example. God also gave
us the saints as role models to carry on Christ’s message of love and
mercy. They came in all sorts and sizes:
some were villains before they had their ‘come to Jesus moment’ while others
were mystics from their youngest years.
In our day, reading and praying over the bible; understanding
the world we live in and praying with an open heart and mind can change us and make
our world the Kingdom of God on earth.
Carl Sagan famously said, “We are made of star
stuff.” In the grand scale of things,
compared to our Creator, we are like those dust motes you see floating through
a shaft of light. We reflect the light,
not by anything we have done, but by the light of God’s over-abundant love pouring
over each and every one of us.
The Pharisee was probably a good man. Yet, he had a
strange way of thanking God. Instead of
thanking, the self-righteous Pharisee stood in the blinding light of his own
pride, looked down his nose at the tax collector and despised everyone else. He
asked God for nothing and received nothing.
Perhaps, the Tax Collector was also a good man, who just
had a hard job to do. He stood in the
shadow of his humility and asked God for mercy.
In return, God understood and forgave him. I imagine, the Tax Collector left the shadowy
synagogue and came into the light of day with a peaceful heart knowing he was
loved and forgiven.
The word humility shares its root in Latin, humus,
with the word human. Humus means ‘of the
earth, dust.’ What we need is a little more humus, humility,
humanity. Maybe, because of our
humanness, we are not meant to shine garishly like the sun, but to reflect the light
of the Beloved Son. Like the moon in its waning and waxing, our lives are a
series falling and rising, sin and virtue.
May our humus, our star stuff, reflect Christ’s light for all to
see, as we thank God for - everything.
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