temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by
himself, and said, ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people, grasping, crooked,
adulterous, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and give a tenth of all
my income to the temple.’ In the meantime the tax collector, standing far off, would
not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me,
a sinner.’ I tell you, when this man went back to his house, he had been reconciled with
God, but not the other. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and
whoever humbles himself will be raised up.”

Relfect

“Be merciful to me, a sinner.” It is not good to presume that we are saved while indifferent
to other people’s situation. It is worse when we think that we are the only ones who
practice the demands of righteousness while judging others by our self-righteous standard.
It will be worst when we think that God agrees with us when we judge other people as
wretched sinners while thinking that we are holy. In today’s Gospel, Jesus told the parable
of the Pharisee and the tax-collector. While the Pharisee thanked God that he is not like the
sinful tax-collector, the tax-collector recognized his sinfulness. We are all sinners. We are all
in need of God’s saving grace. Salvation is something that we basically received than
something that we earn. It is not by our own merit. The fact that we received salvation from
God should keep us humble. In our faith journey, there are times when we are tempted to
become too self-elated, ending up as self-righteous individuals who judge everyone else.
Lent is a season that invites us not to look at others’ weaknesses but to do self-introspection
that will enable us to pray with the repentant tax-collector: “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

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