REFLECTION
FROM THE DESK OF THE PASTOR
The two men who went to the
temple to pray, The Pharisee really praises himself because according to him he
is the good person of all. Whereas the tax collector, did not even dare “to
raise his eyes on heaven. All he does is to beat his breast and says: “O God be
merciful to me, a sinner.” But he returns home with him the prize of acceptance
of God because of his awareness of his sins and self-despising and confession.
The Pharisee meets all what is demanded by the law and even more. But the
Gospel says nothing about his kindness, charity, justice and love. In other
words, what we need is humble prayer or humble service and this is what
matters. Which one of the two should we follow: the pharisee or the tax
collector? We can still follow what the pharisee has done. He follows the law
of God faithfully. He makes the Lord’s Day holy. He teaches us how to fast and
to sacrifice. But he lacked humility. Humility is a very difficult virtue, the
moment you start to claim that you have humility, you are admitting that you
are proud and that’s the end of everything. We can also follow the tax
collector, but not his deeds. He is abusive. He did follow the law of God
because he steals and does extortion. But we can follow his humility. A person
who knows how to be humble is ready to accept constructive criticism and he
will not hide wrongdoings, just like the tax collector and willing to change
for the better. Nothing proves humility better than humiliation.
