Today Jesus gives us a parable that cuts right to the heart: two men went up to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. Both stood before God, but they did not go home the same.
The Pharisee stood tall. His words sounded like prayer, but they were really addressed to himself. He listed his merits—his fasting, his tithing, his obedience to the law. He even compared himself to others, saying, “I am not like the rest of men.” His attitude was not gratitude, but pride. He did not pray to God—he praised himself in God’s presence.
The tax collector, by contrast, stood at a distance. He would not even lift his eyes. He beat his chest and said only this: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” He did not defend himself. He did not excuse himself. He placed his whole trust in God’s mercy.
And Jesus declares: it was the tax collector, not the Pharisee, who went home justified. What does this teach us about prayer?
First, no one who is proud can truly pray. The gate of heaven is too low for the proud to enter. Prayer is not an exercise in comparison, as if the question were, “Am I better than others?” The only question that matters is: “Am I standing before the holiness of God?” When we set our lives beside the life of Christ, all we can say is, “Lord, have mercy on me.”
Second, no one who despises others can truly pray. True prayer unites us with all of humanity—suffering, sinning, hoping before the throne of God’s mercy. To pray while looking down on others is to pray with a divided heart. God listens to the voice of the humble, not the voice of the proud.
Finally, true prayer comes from humility. The Pharisee’s fasting and tithing may have been real, but his heart was closed. The tax collector’s prayer was simple, but it opened heaven. When we strike our chest at Mass and say, “through my fault, through my most grievous fault,” it is not empty ritual. It is the same prayer of the tax collector. It is the prayer of sinners who know that mercy is greater than sin.
There is an old image: a whitewashed cottage looks dazzling in the green fields. But when snow falls, pure and untouched, the cottage suddenly looks dull and grey. So too, when we compare ourselves with others, we may feel righteous. But when we compare ourselves with the holiness of God, we see the truth. And that truth leads us not to despair, but to mercy.
So let us learn from the tax collector. Let us make his prayer our own: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.” This prayer, spoken with humility, is always heard. And it is this prayer that leads us home justified.
Amen.
Father Josekutty Mathew CMF
