Word to the Wise
Sunday, October 27, 2019 - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C
[Sir 35:12-14, 16-18; 2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14]The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest til it reaches its goal, nor with it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay. [Sirach] "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 [the Pharisee]; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." [Luke]
Imagine that you have finally found the courage to tell someone else that you love them but you're so afraid of saying the wrong thing that you write down all you want to say (or else find what someone else has written) and at the big moment, you read it all to the other person! I think we Catholics are often like that. It's much easier to find a book with a bunch of "approved" prayers and read them to God! Yes, we do need those kinds of prayers on occasion, and the Sacraments are, indeed, a written form of prayer to be used by the community together. But ultimately, prayer is the expression of faith and a relationship to God. How you pray is a good indicator of how you see God.
Consider the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee in today's gospel scripture. The Pharisee is basically declaring himself to be a self-made man and is thanking God for not interfering! The tax collector simply expresses his relationship to God and his need for God's mercy. Jesus proclaims him to be justified.
The great Dominican mystic and preacher, St. Catherine of Siena, advises us to "dwell in the cell of self-knowledge." A good relationship to God is one that acknowledges our dependence on God for mercy and help. How much of our prayer is directed to that? All our Catholic traditions - Rosary, Mercy Chaplet, books of prayers, indeed all the sacraments - should ultimately direct us to the tax collector's prayer. That's why I often ask penitents in the Sacrament of Reconciliation to repeat that prayer instead of the traditional "Act of Contrition" because we can buzz through the latter in a formula fashion. The tax collector has it right!
On retreats, I share some "written" prayers with retreatants that they may not have heard before: Mary Oliver's wonderful poem PRAYING, or Thomas Merton's prayer (just type "the Merton prayer" in your browser), Jessica Powers' poem, "THE GARMENTS OF GOD" - are examples. I also challenge retreatants to do a history of prayer in their lives to see how their relationship to God has developed. To my student friends I suggest that when they wake up and put their feet on the floor to say simply, "God! Nothing can happen today that you and I can't handle together." The richness of prayer awaits us when we know ourselves and can break away from habitual formulas to face God or when we look at a crucifix and realize how much we are in debt! The Holy Spirit will help us. AMEN
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