Word to the Wise
Sunday, October 23, 2022 - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C
[Sir 35:12-14, 16-18; 2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14]"Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke the 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.' [Luke]
One of the four "pillars" of Dominican life is PRAYER. [The other three are study, community and ministry, especially preaching.] When preaching a retreat, I turn the four "pillars" into four questions: HOW AM I PRAYING?, etc.. The parable in today's gospel scripture poses that question to us: How am I praying? What does my prayer say about my relationship to God? The two men in the parable have radically different relationships to God!!! The Pharisee takes a prominent position and utters a self-congratulatory prayer that shows smugness toward God and condescension toward the tax collector. The tax collector keeps his distance and begs for God's mercy. Jesus proclaims the tax collector as the one whose prayer is heard.
There is an old liturgical principle, lex orandi, lex credendi ["The way you pray should be the way you should believe."} How does my prayer reflect my relationship to God? Is it a relationship of love? Or is it an arms-length transaction? A lady once came to me with an interesting problem. She had a stack of holy cards with printed prayers and devotions that would guarantee her minimal, if any, time in purgatory! She found it difficult to perform all these prayers and devotions and was afraid of losing her "benefits!" When I tried to gently wean her away from her "frequent pray-er mileage" by suggesting she focus on one or two devotions, she was not happy!! Her relationship to God was one that focused on actions and benefits instead of love and mercy.
The Pharisee was convinced of his righteousness because of his observance of Mosaic Law (actions) and was proud of his "status" before God! His prayer reflects this. The Tax Collector prayed out of his recognition of his need for God's mercy. How do we answer the question: HOW AM I PRAYING? AMEN.