Word to the Wise
Saturday, April 2, 2011 - 3rd Week of Lent - Sat
[Hos 6:1-6 and 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 to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector......
There are times when I wish this parable would be read over and over again by some of the religious publishing media, especially in our own Catholic Church. Religious "righteousness" gives rise to some of the most un-Christian language and can incite violence! This is often one of the criticisms leveled against Christianity by unbelievers! Our "righteousness" blinds us to our own sinfulness!
The contrast between the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is a vivid one. Perhaps that is the danger of the this parable. We may see the two men as being at opposite ends of the "spectrum" and ourselves as "somewhere between them." We may say that we're not "convinced of our own righteousness" nor do we "despise everyone else." History teaches us that as a nation, our foreign policy (and that of many of the western "civilized" nations) shows that we are VERY convinced of our own righteousness and see anything that is NOT our way as inferior. The same is true for some of the religious publishing media in this country, from the WANDERER on one side to the NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER on the other. Last, but not least, we can turn the parable toward ourselves.
There is an old expression, "There, but for the grace of God, go I!" We can use that expression in an ambiguous way, which should challenge us to stop and think what we mean by it. Both men in the temple see themselves as praying, but only the one who acknowledges sinfulness and the need for God's mercy is justified. In other words, the Pharisee is using the old expression to distance himself from the Tax Collector. How do we use it? AMEN
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