Being convinced of one’s own righteousness seems to lead inevitably to despising others.  The faults of others are so easy to see.  Jesus, knowing that some of His disciples are caught up in this problem, addresses today’s parable to them.

He presents the Pharisee in the parable as praying about himself.  He himself, more than God, is the subject of his prayer.  He exalts himself rather than God.

Social pressure leaves the tax collector less susceptible to self-deception.  His profession meant that he was regarded as a public sinner.  He knows he does not measure up to the law, and so he pleads for mercy.  Jesus proclaims that he, of the two, went away justified.

The law was given as a moral guide for God’s people.  But God also meant the law to reveal to everyone how far short they fall.  Therefore, God’s intention in the law was better achieved in the tax collector than in the Pharisee.

The Pharisee did do things he could brag about, his problem was he bragged about them, esteeming himself and disdaining others.  The tax collector was a sinner, and his saving achievement was that he admitted it.

Discipleship apart from prayer is impossible; but not just any prayer.  In the parable the Pharisees prayer is self – serving and prideful, while the tax collector embodies the humble servant attitude by the simple prayer.    “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”    The secret of effective prayer is the mercy of God.

Effective prayer seeks and finds the mercy of God.  God in His mercy, gave the tax collector what the Pharisee strove for through all his own efforts:  Justification, which means proper standing in the eyes of God.  The tax collector received what the Pharisee did not achieve.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell