Gospel: Luke 18: 9-14
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican who enter the Temple to pray. Everyone who reads and hears this Gospel knows someone for whom this passage applies. We know exactly who the many Pharisees are in our lives who need to hear this message, and we would like nothing more than to mention that fact to them. How right it is that Jesus calls out these people for their self-righteousness and arrogance.
But if all these other people are the Pharisee in the story, does that then mean that I see myself as the Publican? Am I beating my chest and accusing myself of sin, not looking at the sins of others but only my own? Or perhaps we are the very Pharisee we are condemning in our thought bubbles and side conversations in the above paragraph. Being self-righteous, judgmental, rigid, and arrogant is not exclusive to one group of people. It is a widespread malady that afflicts us all.
Lent is a time for repentance and atoning for our sins. It is a time for celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation, for examining the one and only conscience God has given us proper agency for examining. If we discover we are too much the Pharisee, today is the day to be the Publican. Lord, be merciful to me, a wretched sinner.
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