(Homily 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. C)
World Mission Sunday 2022
Last Sunday in our reflection we considered
prayer as the gym of the Christian soul and invariably today’s readings
buttress the fact that in this spiritual gym there are two kinds of spiritual
athletes: those that puff up and think that they can do everything with their
muscle, and those that are simple and have a healthy spiritual self-esteem. In
that bid, those who belong to the religion of merit and those who belong to the
religion of mercy. Those who belong to the religion of merit are self-justified,
they are proud, they have unhealthy high self-esteem and they feel they can
obtain spiritual favors out of merit. Those of religion of mercy, instead are
humble and simple, capable of entering into themselves (intusleggere) in order to make a healthy and balanced evaluation of
themselves, for them another name of God and for God’s Love is Mercy, they
trust in the mercy of God and not in their human merits. Those of the religion of merit are self-justified, while those of the
religion of mercy are justified by God. The themes of justice and prayer
recapitulate well the readings of this Sunday. Prayer is a place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted and
supplications are made. Indeed, “The nearer you go to God, the nearer God
will come to you” (Jm. 4:8a). A
humble and authentic prayer takes us closer to God. In the parable, both the
Pharisee and the Publican prayed in the temple, but only the publican was
justified by God. In the first reading, Sirach applies the divine justice to
prayer and teaches that God, the just judge has no preference of persons, he
listens to the prayer of the oppressed. Lastly, in the second reading, St. Paul
in humility accepted his ordeal of faith, however, not trusting on his own
strength but on divine grace: “From now on there is laid up for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that
Day”. Today we celebrate Mission Sunday. As a matter of fact, the Church is
missionary in nature, and we the members too are missionaries, though in
different categories and degrees, some participate in the mission by going, some by giving while others by
praying. And the readings (Zech.8:20-23;
Ps.19:2-3.4-5; Rm.10:9-18; Mk.16:15-20) proper to the Mission Sunday
revolve around the beauty and the necessity of the missionary exploit, indeed
“how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news” (Rm.10:15) and again “Go into the world
and preach the gospel to the whole creation” (Mk.16:15).
It is against this backdrop that the first
reading (Sir. 35, 12-14.16-18)
basically tells us that the humble man’s prayer pierces the cloud and will not
stop until they reach the throne of God. (vv.
16-18). The passage reminds us that God has no favorites and that he hears
the voice of the oppressed (vv.12-13).
God is presented here as a just judge, that cannot be compromised like human
judges, for this, he listens favorably to the prayers of the oppressed, the
poor, the orphan and widows. However, prayer
accompanied with good interior dispositions like humility fast-forwards our
prayers to God’s thrown. No doubt, “the heartfelt prayer of someone upright
works very powerfully” (Jm.5:16). There
is efficacy in the prayer of a humble person. Indeed, humility accompanied with
perseverance is the basic condition for every prayer. The Lord does not delay
in answering the prayers of the weak, the oppressed and the humble. For this
the word of God was addressed to Jeremiah thus: “Call to me and I will answer
you” (Jer. 33:3). It is against this
backdrop, that the Psalmist assures us that “the lowly one called and the Lord
heard him” (Ps.34:6). Let us humble
ourselves, accept our unworthiness and nothingness before God, so that all our
prayers today will pierce the cloud and reach God’s thrown.
The message of the Gospel passage (Lk. 18: 9-14) centers on the right
attitude towards prayer and the theme of justification not by personal merit,
but by faith in Jesus Christ (cf.
Rm.8:33-37). At the beginning of the gospel Luke tells us that Jesus
narrated the parable for “those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else” (v.9),
and this is the basic trait of those that belong to the religion of merit.
Jesus narrated the story of two people that went up to the temple to pray: a
Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee sees himself as a man “separated”
from others, he kept all the laws. The Jewish law prescribed fasting once a
year (cf. Lev. 16:29), but he fasted
twice a week. What a self-flattery! The
meaning of this parable is that of the entire Gospel of St. Luke: Jesus is the
revelation of God’s mercy. And man is liberated from sin through the
gratuitous initiative of God’s mercy. The more we stoop low and become
convinced of our misery and moral inconsistency, the more God in his merciful
love forgives and raises us up.
On entering the temple, the Pharisee as we
are told “took up his position” maybe he sat down. Probably he did not assume
the religious posture or position of a pious Jew. Then, he started his prayer:
“O God I thank you because I am not like other men, impure and unjust…”. The Pharisee seemed to offer his prayers to
God, but in reality he is self-centered, he repeated the word “I” many times.
An authentic Prayer opens one in a relationship with the Other and with the
others, but the prayer of the Pharisee opened and closed him up only to
himself. This is real spiritual
schizophrenia in action, he was disconnected with the Other and the others, he
remained closed in his own world, where only him exists. This indeed, is
religion of Merit. He reminds God what he has been doing for God, and not
remembering what God has done and is doing for him. The Pharisee saw himself as
a just man, who is at peace with God: he is presumptuous and proud. In this
passage, Jesus condemns religious
self-sufficiency. Humility is not weakness of character, rather strength of
the will, such that one neither succumbs before the threats of the powerful nor
the flattery of the wicked.
On the other hand, we figure out the tax
collector, who instead out of humility and a healthy sense of guilt “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”. This is an attitude of those who
belong to the religion of Mercy. Certainly, he remembered what God has done and
is doing for him, he cannot but ask for Mercy. At the end, the situation reverses, for he went home forgiven, absolved,
exalted, sanctified, but the Pharisee no! (v.14). Indeed, our sins distance us from God, little wonder he
stood off at a distance to pray, a similar thing happened in Luke (5:8) at the episode of the
encounter between Peter and Jesus. Even though, it is true that sin distances us from God, but humility and spiritual
self-acceptance draw us closer to God. Little wonder, we are told that the
tax collector went home justified. While the prayer of the Pharisee closed him
up in his world, that of the tax collector opened him up to the Other and the
others. Prayer indeed creates and
nurtures friendship (with God and with others). The big difference between
the prayer of the Pharisee and the tax collector is this, while the first
composed his prayer based on what he does for God, the later inwardly prays for
what God does and is capable of doing for him. And that is the major difference
between the Religion of Merit and the Religion of Mercy. Really the tax
collector went home justified not only because he was humble, but also because
he opened up to the mysteries of God and to God Himself. He opened up to God’s mercy, which is “God’s weakness” and a
manifestation of his omnipotence.
In the Gospel the maxim of Jesus: “who exalts
himself will be humbled, and who humbles himself will be exalted” is reported
three good times in three different circumstances (two times in the Gospel of
Luke and once in that of Mathew). From those three circumstances we have to
deduce the three different aspects of humility and how they complement each
other. ●In Luke (14:11) Jesus
teaches humility in the sense of not aspiring for the positions of honor, not
showing off, but rather to choose the last seat. ●Again, in Luke (18:14) Jesus teaches that
humility also entails comporting oneself like the publican: recognizing oneself
as a sinner and rely completely on God’s mercy; therefore, not doing like the
Pharisee who presumed to just, he exalts himself and despises others, he failed
to understand that salvation is a gratuitous gift of the Lord and not a reward
as a result of one’s work. ●In Mathew
(23:19) Jesus teaches that humility consists in avoiding the ostentation of
oneself (self-display), the desire of being admired and revered, the ambition
for honorific titles, instead great is the one who serves the brothers: “just
as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many” (Mt. 20:28). Jesus is the divine model and archetype of
humility, because in the mystery of his incarnation, passion and death, he
offers us a maximum expression of true humility. For this, St. Paul invites us
to imitate him, who humbled himself to the point of death (cf. Ph. 2:3-11).
How many times have we Christians fallen
into the same ditch of the Pharisee, the tendency of religious
self-sufficiency? Many a times we indulge in the erroneous mentality of
thinking that we secure our salvation by our mere actions alone or by our
religious practices. This is tendency of
justification by self and not by grace. An authentic Christian feels like
“a publican”, a sinner, one saved by the divine mercy and continuously in need
of his help. One who does not think that he is better than others, rather one
who believes and trusts in the goodness and infinite mercy of God, one who
tries to do the will of God, but however, knows that he can do nothing without
the grace of God. The publican prayed and cried to God: “Kyrie eleison” and he was
accepted by God, because he threw himself on God’s mercy. Come to think of it,
let us reason together with St. Paul: “what made you so important? What have you
got that was not given to you? And if it is given to you, why are you boasting
as though it were your own”, (1Cor. 4:7).
Remember always: “everyone who raises himself up will be humbled, and the one
who humbles himself will be raised up” (Lk.
14:11; 18:14); indeed, “The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the
humble” (Jm. 4:6).
Drawing the issue further, the parable
shows us the right attitude to adopt towards prayer; it gives us a useful
indication on how to pray well. As emanating from the parable, a Christian
prayer should not be like the one of the Pharisee, a sort of self-exultation
with the consequent disregard for others; instead, it has to be like the one of
the publican, it has to be a true and interior witness of humility. A Christian in the liturgical assembly has
to rediscover the authentic esteem of others and a healthy self-concept. As
scripture tells us, “All things are open and laid bare to the eyes of the One
to whom one day we must give an account of ourselves” (Heb. 4:13). So we cannot deceive God or bemuse Him with our
outward religiosity.
In the second reading (2Tm.4:6-8.16-18) Paul expresses his lowliness before God, who he
believes will reward him for his spiritual sojourn. At the moment Paul foresaw
what awaits him that is why he says that he is being poured out as a libation (v.6), by this he was intending to say
that his life will end up in martyrdom. He anticipated death for himself,
because there is no hope of release like in his former imprisonment. St. Paul
recounted his ordeal of being left alone, all deserted him, the roman
Christians deserted him, however he affirmed: “But the Lord stood by me and
gave me power, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed for all
the gentiles to hear, and so I was saved from the lion’s mouth” (v.17). Despite his impending trial Paul was full of confidence:
“Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness” (v.8). Similarly, St. Paul lived the attitude of the tax collector, he was real before
God.
There is indeed something impressing in
the liturgical tests of today, because while talking about the attitude of God
towards the one who prays, emphasis is laid on God as a Judge. It does not
exclude the fact that God is a Father, but a Father who does justice. He does
justice to the one who prays with suitable attitude, like the publican, and he
justifies him; and equally he does justice to the one who prays with improper
attitude, like the Pharisee, who goes out from the temple without God’s
forgiveness, for he was not in need of it. God is a judge who does not make
preferences of persons, for this he listens with particular attention to the
prayers of the oppressed. The prayer of the oppressed pierces the clouds till
it reaches the abode of God. God judges
the one who prays according to the divine parameter, and not according to the
parameters of the one who prays. For this, the crown that Paul was
expecting is not the fruit of his person merit, rather as a sign of God’s
justice before him and all those who are his imitators in the service of the
Gospel. I cannot but conclude my reflection this Sunday with the traditional
prayer that goes thus: Jesus meek and
humble of heart, make our hearts like unto yours. Truly, the goal and
desire of our sojourn as Christians is to be more like Jesus and less of us.
(Fr.
Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)
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