Oh God, Be Merciful to A Sinner Like Me!

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

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Gospel of Luke 18:9-14

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.’

We are all sinners  No bones about it - we are all sinners!  We may try to "act" like we are perfect.  We go to mass every Sunday.  We say our prayers daily.  We tithe to the church and regularly commit our time to volunteering.  But, do these actions automatically exempt us from sinful behavior or its consequences?  No way!  We will still say the occasional cuss word, little white lie, or spread gossip.  There's absolutely no way for us to become completely sinless. This is why the Church gives us the Penitential rite at Mass for the forgiveness of venial sins and then the Sacrament of Reconciliation for more serious sins.  God opens his door to us at all times willing to grant sinners his infinite mercy.

The Pharisee arrogance In the gospel reading, I can't help but laugh at the Pharisee's prayer to God.  His arrogance, pride and judgment just proves how truly sinful he is.  He can fast and tithe until he's starved and penniless but that won't make him any holier! If confession was available during Jesus' time, I doubt the Pharisee would speak to a priest.  In his mind, he has nothing to confess.  He's done nothing wrong.  In fact, he deserves praise for being such a good Jewish parishioner.  Not so fast.....Obeying every facet of the Jewish law does not mean that the Pharisee is a good person.  The fact that he criticizes and condemns instead of offering compassion and mercy is not all that pleasing to God.  Yet, this man doesn't recognize this.  His prayers are said in vain.

The Tax Collector's humility  The tax collector is so shameful of his sin that he beats his breast and cannot even raise his eyes.  He stands at a distance.  I think we've all been like this.  We feel so guilty for our sins that we stop going to church.  We become gloomy and withdrawn. We feel like nobody could possibly love us because we committed such a heinous act!  Maybe we aborted a child, stopped speaking to a loved one, or committed a crime.  The fact we recognize that we've sinned and seek God's mercy is a great act in itself.  This is when the healing begins!  Our Lord is ready and willing to pour out his love and forgiveness.  No matter how big or little our sin is, God is ready to listen!

Let us recognize the sin in our hearts and ask for God's pardon and forgiveness!

-J.