30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The month of October is Mission Month when we celebrate the missionary effort of the Church throughout the world. This Sunday we celebrate Mission Sunday and we remember all those who have given up everything to go to far off lands to bring the gospel message to the people there. We also remember all those who support them such as the Apostolic Work and Missio here in Ireland. The readings in our Liturgy for this weekend are all about the HUMBLE person of faith that God calls all of us to be. What does the Gospel Reading about the tax collector and the Pharisee say to us today ? Also and I think more importantly what about the words of the Tax Collector who said in a humble way God be merciful to me a sinner what do these words say to us?
The Tax Collector despised by the people because of the job he was doing is saying to us that we need to be humble before God who knows that we are sinners even before we acknowledge that we are we also have to be humble with other people dealing with them with real humility. Real humility is about facing the truth about the person we are and often times we don’t like to hear the truth about ourselves. It is a long journey from the Pharisee at the front to the tax-collector at the back. It is a journey of repentance and of facing up to the truth. It is a journey that Life will provide if we have the courage and honesty to find it. If any of us still think that we should be up at the front with the Pharisee, then our lives will be not be as happy and we will never find peace. In our modern world, Pride which was very strong in the words the Pharisee spoke dominates many situations of life and it is this pride which has led many people the world over down a lonely road.
The Pharisee gives thanks to God for not being like everyone else. He is a person of means, he has enough money to tithe. He lives a virtuous life; he’s not “greedy, dishonest, adulterous.” He probably feels “blessed” by God for all he has. So, he offers a prayer of thanksgiving. But his self-satisfaction counters whatever sincerity he might have.This Sunday’s parable demonstrates the necessity of knowing oneself. In order to avoid building up false self-image, creating a bogus reality in our minds and hearts. We need to stop and see where we should be saying with the tax collector Lord be merciful to me a sinner. These words from prophet Micah really sum up what we are asked to do and the people we are called to be as faith filled Christians this Sunday and everyday. Micah asked and what does the Lord require of us? He requires us To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God? The Lord requires us to be just, and kind in our dealings with one another and other people as we walk humbly with him and as a result of this we will be able to help those who need us most where we are in the world.
Fullerton T 