From the responsorial psalm: “Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 18:9-14)
“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.”
Jesus compares the piety of the tax collector with the piety of the Pharisee. Luke tells us that Jesus addressed this parable “to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” In prayer, the Pharisee thanks God by his own standard—that he, like the rest of humanity, is not “greedy, dishonest, adulterous.” Going further, Jesus describes external practices that set him apart from the tax collector. He fasts twice a week and pays generous tithes. But Jesus sees this as superficial piety, leaving great leeway to compartmentalize piety and forget the two great commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. As the LORD speaks through Hosea in the first reading: “Your piety is like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away. . . . For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice.”
“O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Lord, let the words of the tax collector be on my lips and in my heart today. I have the words of Saint Paul to consider as well: “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” And if I think for a minute that this is a guilt complex, some kind of self-inflicted scrupulosity, give me the grace to call to mind every good gift you give me. I fail time after time, missing the mark, and needing the sacrament of reconciliation to restore me to you. Teach me, Lord, to humble myself in your presence.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.