30th Sunday C/ Pharisee better than tax collector
  Sir 35:12-18/ Ps 34/ 2 Tim 4:6-18/ Lk 18:9-14
  Introduction
 

          We have different kinds of Act of Contrition, and the best prayer is what we usually do in the beginning of Sunday Masses. We all say, “I confess to almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters that I have sinned on my own fault….” For me it is so beautiful because we confess all together before each other that we are all sinners and so therefore we ask everyone to pray for us.

  
  Background
 
  1. A devout Jew prays three times a day: 9AM, 12 noon and 3pm. Prayer was more effective if it was offered in the Temple and so at these hours many went up to the Temple courts to pray. It was during these moments that Jesus noticed the two men praying.

  2. The Jewish law prescribed only one obligatory fast – the Day of Atonement. But those who wished to gain special merit fasted also on Mondays and Thursdays. Most probably the Pharisee fasted more than the usual. All Jews were to give a tithe of all their produce to the Levites. But this Pharisee tithed everything, even things which there were no obligation to tithe. All these he did to gain favors not only from God but from the public as well.

  3. The tax collector who stood from a distance, would not even lift his eyes in humility, blame himself with all the sins he committed. In other version his actual prayer was “O God be merciful to me “the” sinner” as if he was not merely “a sinner” but a sinner far excellence. It was his deepest longing for God’s mercy and his humble acceptance of his own guilt that made him pleasing before God’s eyes.
 
  Reflection:  
 
  1. No man who is proud can pray. The gate of heaven is so low that nobody can enter it unless he falls on his knees with deep sorrow and true repentance. We can only be proud of one thing: “we have a God who is so loving and so understanding, and we pray that at the end of our lives he may look at us with mercy.”

  2. No man who despises his fellow-men can pray. In prayer we do not life ourselves above our fellow-men. We remember that we are all sinners, we are all weak and by judging others we also judge ourselves. Then best thing we can do is to pray for each other so that God may look at us with mercy at the end of time.

  3. True prayer comes from setting our lives beside the life of God. When I was in the Philippines I thought my color is just light brown. But when I saw the whiteness of the snow on the first day of winter. I realize how dark I am. The definition of “holiness” is relative depending on your reference point. Before perfect holiness of God who are all nothing but sinners.
 
  Conclusion  
 

         The Pharisee did not really go to the Temple to pray. He was just giving testimony before God of all the good things he has done.  His objective was to inform God how good he was. A true prayer is not directed to oneself, it should be focused on God and to God alone.