Word to the Wise
Saturday, March 29, 2025 - 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 one else. "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 this 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.' I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." [Luke]
One of the big questions I ask of retreatants or the folks who attend a parish mission is HOW AM I PRAYING? I use the parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector as the scripture to focus on that question. The way we pray says a great deal about who we think God is and who we think we are! In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I often have the penitent recite after me the prayer of the Tax Collector, which is traditionally called "the Jesus prayer:" "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner." This is a true "act of contrition." The Pharisee in question meets the description in the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus criticizes those who engage in elaborate public displays of prayer so that others can see them praying. [Matt. 6:5-8] Even more, the Pharisee is thanking God for his own self-righteousness!!
What does our prayer say about us and how we think of God? I have a painting on the wall of my room of a boy out in a field with a rock in his hand, poised to throw it at the sky in the hopes of hitting God! He was enraged AT God but he was also engaged WITH God. How are we "engaged" with God? Our Catholic tradition of prayer is full to overflowing with prayer(s). But all these "prayerS" can be brought to nought if the pray-ER comes before God like the Pharisee. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches us that our intention to pray is more important than the prayer we say because often we can scarcely get through a single "Our Father" without being distracted! [Commentary on 1st Corinthians]. What is our "intention?" Responding honestly to the question HOW AM I PRAYING could make for a very fruitful Lenten preparation for Holy Week! AMEN