The Gospel gives us two prayers: that of the tax collector and that of the Pharisee. Only one prayer is answered. Let us see what we can learn from the mistakes of the Pharisee, so that our petitions may be heard.
The Pharisee prays in this way: "God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of my income.” Over the past 15 years of my priesthood, I have heard various versions of the Pharisee’s prayer. One version is the following: “I have not killed anyone, I have not defrauded anyone, I give my parish envelope weekly, why should I ask for forgiveness? I don’t have much to be sorry for.” Another version of the Pharisee’s prayer is this: “My last confession was one year ago, and all I have to confess is that I was late for Mass one Sunday. But I do give money to the church.” It is hard to ask for mercy when you don’t think that you have that much to be forgiven for. It is exceedingly hard to speak with someone, especially in the context of the Sacrament of Confession, when they think that they have no sin, or think that they are sinners, generally speaking, but can’t provide details about their sinfulness. To ask for forgiveness, we need to have the knowledge of being weak and sinful men and women, and point out the specific ways that we have sinned. However, it is in this asking for forgiveness that we are set free from the false god of our own making. This is because, left to our own devices, left in the world of the Pharisee, we make little gods of ourselves: we have the illusion of being perfect, and when we fail at being perfect, we are quite literally, shattered, devastated. The image that we had of ourselves breaks apart. Think of what would happen to the Pharisee if he realized that one week he had forgotten to tithe, or if he had forgotten to fast – where would he go to seek mercy, he who is the righteous one? It is better for us to rely upon the infinite mercy of the one and true God, acknowledging ourselves as sinners, than to think ourselves as righteous and better than others.
There is also an element of pride, especially spiritual pride, in the prayer of the Pharisee. Yes, pride is a dangerous enemy for us because it weakens all our spiritual defences. Saint Gregory the Great compared pride to a breach in the defending wall of a city – even though the wall is very high and sturdy, that one breach, that one opening, allows the enemy to come in. He had this to say about the Pharisee: “See how through pride he laid open the citadel of his heart to the enemies that lay in wait for him; and whom he had shut out in vain by prayer and fasting. In vain are all the remaining defences, as long as there is one place undefended where the enemy can enter” (The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, M.F. Toal ed., vol. 3, 1959, 358).
Yesterday, on October 22nd, we observed the optional memorial of Pope St. John Paul II. One of his first encyclicals was Dives in Misericordia, an encyclical letter on divine mercy. In it, the Pope addressed the loss of a sense of sin and consequently, of the sense of mercy. He wrote, “The more the human conscience…loses its sense of the very meaning of the word "mercy," moves away from God and distances itself from the mystery of mercy, the more the Church has the right and the duty to appeal to the God of mercy "with loud cries." These "loud cries" should be the mark of the Church of our times, cries uttered to God to implore His mercy” (Dives in Misericordia 15). When we lose the sense of sin, when we lose the sense of mercy, we lose the sense of God. And a world where some human beings live as if God did not exist is a world which can very quickly turn against men and women. St. John Paul II writes, “Modern man often anxiously wonders about the solution to the terrible tensions which have built up in the world and which entangle humanity.” These words were written in 1980. Forty-two years after, in 2022, the “terrible tensions” the saintly Pope writes about have only increased. And so, St. John Paul II points to the Church’s mission: “And if at times (man) lacks the courage to utter the word "mercy,"…so much greater is the need for the Church to utter his word, not only in her own name but also in the name of all the men and women of our time” (Dives in Misericordia 15). As the Chaplet of Divine Mercy prays, “Have mercy on us, and on the entire world."
So, what can we learn from the mistakes of the Pharisee? First, let us ask for mercy. For us Catholics, mercy is found first and foremost in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Let us acknowledge that we are sinful, and have those sins forgiven in Confession. Second, let us guard our conscience from looking down on others, especially those who we perceive as weak or straying. Third, let us beg mercy from God for ourselves, our families, and for the entire world – “For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the entire world.”
(Fr. Pawel Ratajczak, OMI, Oct. 23, 2022)