30th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
October 23, 2022
Luke 18:9-14
In the communication, there are three constitutive elements: the sender, the medium and the recipient. Arguably, the most crucial among the three is the recipient because everything changes when the recipient changes. For example, we cannot speak the same way to children as to old people, though we talk the same topic. It is the same with prayer. If prayer is a communication with God, then the kind of God we have in mind, will dramatically affect our prayer. If we consider God as our loving father, then we can approach Him as his children with confidence. If we see God as an instant troubleshooter, we may seek Him only if we have problems. Now, pride or arrogance is one of the deadliest sins precisely because it destroys the true image of God in our hearts. How is it possible?
Jesus masterfully explains the relation between prayer, pride and humility through His parable. The parable looks simple, but as always, there is more than what meets the eyes. Jesus compares two well-known figures in ancient Israel, the righteous Pharisee, and the sinful tax collector. Both are praying in the Temple, though in opposite manners: the Pharisee in prideful fashion, and the tax collector in humble way. But, how do you know that the Pharisee prays with pride, and the tax collector with humility?
It is not because he is standing closer to the altar. It is not because he is listing the good things he has done or received. The problem lays on the receipt of his prayer. If we read carefully, he is actually praying ‘to himself’. In some translations, this is not obvious, but if we go back to original Greek, the phrase used is ‘πρὸς ἑαυτὸν’ [pros eauton], and it simply means ‘to himself’. We all well know that we pray and worship God alone, but here, the Pharisee prays to himself. Thus, we can infer that the god of this Pharisee is no other than himself. The core issue with pride is that make ourselves as gods. In truth, we were created in the image of God, but in pride, we fashion god in our images. That is idolatry. Pride is extremely dangerous because it leads us to idolatry.
The tax collector became the model of humility because he prays to the one and true God. Standing before the true God, he recognizes who he is, a mere dust, a terrible sinner. Yet, it is not hopeless, because in humility, the tax collector also realizes who his God is, the just and merciful God. He goes home justified because neither because he is standing at the back, nor he strikes his chest as strongly as possible. It is because he prays for mercy to the true God, and the true God never fails to answer.
Some points of reflections: Indeed, we pray to God, but is He the true God? Or, do we pray to ourselves, to a god we created in our likeness and desire? What kind of image of God do we have in our hearts? Do we make God as our kind of genie that grants all our wishes? Do we use God to show off? Does pride secretly interferes in our prayers and relationship with God? Do we have the humility to throw away our false idols, and allow the true God reigns in our lives?
Rome
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP