Luke 18:9-14
I have a friend named Dorothy. She is a widow in a suburb north of Boston. She is a holy, pious, widow woman. She was part of a parish group involved in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Like the widow in the first reading form Sirach today, Dorothy had a complaint. She befriended a young man of college age and enlisted him to sign up for an hour. I was there one afternoon with her when he was present. Later that night, I was commenting on how admirable it was that this young man was doing this ministry. She took exception to his youthful dress and then complained: “But he genuflects on only one knee.” I said: “Dorothy, do you think God really cares how he genuflects? Do you realize all the things a young man his age could be involved in? Instead he is here. God cares more about where his heart is, than where his knees are!”
This is rough analogy to this gospel parable. We are all prone to this — how others come up short somehow. Therein might be our sin, our fall. This is the gospel of the “divine reversals” in Luke. The near move themselves far from God. And the lowly, the far off, are brought close by their humility. Humility means from the earth, down to earth. Notice how the tax collector casts his eyes down. Such people, because of their humility, God brings close. God does this; they don’t do it themselves. The lowly don’t lift themselves up. They are lifted up – by God (“the divine passive”). Think of Mary’s Magnificat, also from Luke: “He has lifted up the lowly.” Notice, the Pharisee doesn’t need God’s mercy; he is full of his own accomplishments. Full of himself, he is brought far away as a result. What need has he of God? He “spoke this prayer to himself.”
So let’s consider Psalm 51. It is one of the penitential psalms, part of every Friday morning’s liturgy of the hours: “My sin is always before me.” Let’s ponder that one. It is the posture of the tax collector, bowed down. In Luke’s gospel it is the tax collectors and sinners who are always open to God’s mercy because they know they need it. That is their salvation. They admit this to God. The Pharisee rather is talking himself, not to God (“spoke this prayer to himself”). It is easy to criticize the one out there – a coworker, a neighbor, someone in public life, someone in our community, our parish. It easy to criticize the pope, the bishop, priests, etc. Instead of judging others, the example today tells us we need first to admit first our own shortcomings and beg for God’s mercy. ‘My sin is always before me. God, have mercy on me.’ A sinner. Who is not in need of God’s mercy?