How many have been the times that you have had the occasion to stand in the temple with the Pharisee and the tax collector? Surely not just a few! When encountering these scriptural repetitions, does not the question arise: "So what? So what does it mean for me? This time? If someone told you that you were not different than you were last year, would you not think for a moment. Would you not ask yourself whether that was really true. Without any hesitation, I can say to myself "Yes, I know that I am somewhat different from 'where' I was this time last year. Not just in a different physical space but in a different spiritual and psychological space. So, what's the message this time?
If your read the words of St. Luke's story about the two men who went into the temple to pray, listen carefully to the words of each man's prayer. Can you take the arrogance of the Pharisee: "O God, I think you that I am not like the rest of humanity"? Can you not sense a fraud in those words? He has no time for his humanity much less for the tax collector there in the back of the temple. Consider how he sets himself apart from all of humanity. His mentions his norms: greed, dishonesty and adulterous! What human being is there who does not struggle with these "capital sins" along with the others (check them out in your life: pride, anger, lust, sloth, gluttony and envy)? He sees himself so much better that you and me and all humanity. He has no time for sinners! Wow! Can you believe his stance? What about that first stone?
What about the other fellow, the tax collector. He is one man in the community everyone considers to be a sinner. His profession is really one of stealing from the ordinary people. He acknowledges his weaknesses, his sins. He knows he is far from perfect. He doesn't have to make up words in his prayers like the Pharisee. Humility is the virtue he seeks to strengthen in his life: "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." Here's the man who is struggling with his humanity. Here is a man who is mindful that there is a God who will forgive his sins.
So now let's ask ourselves "So what? So what does this story speak to me today? Am I like the Pharisee? Of course not." That is the sentiment in many hearts today. What? Me a sinner? If you really have any doubts about being a sinner, just ask a close friend to be honest with you! Then stand before a mirror, not to see how good you look, but to open up your heart, to acknowledge those "secret sins," those moments in your life when you are not proud of what you have done. This is the moment when humility is so painful, isn't it?
Humility is that moment when an individual or a spokesperson for a larger group admits faults or prior evils and asks for forgiveness. This was a characteristic of Pope John Paul II: publicly apologizing to groups of people who have been harmed or offended by painful moments in the Church's history.
So what?
