"O GOD, Be Merciful To Me, A Sinner."

"JESUS told another parable to some persons fully convinced of their own righteousness, who looked down on others, 'Two men went up to the 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 the 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 down to his house, he had been set right 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.'" - Luke 18:9-14 

 

(The Pharisees were very determined to fulfill GOD's law; they fasted often and did many works of mercy.  Unfortunately, many of them took the credit for such a model life: they thought they no longer needed GOD's mercy because their good deeds would force HIM to reward them.

On the other hand, the publican recognizes he is a sinner towards GOD and people: all he can do is to ask pardon.  He is in the truth and in the grace of GOD when he goes home.

JESUS speaks for those who are fully convinced of their own righteousness.  The text says precisely: "their justice" which contrasts with "he was justified."  The Bible calls just those whose life is in order before GOD because they observe HIS law; so, in Matthew 1:19 and Luke 1:6 Joseph and Zachary are called just.  In many places, however, great importance is given to the exterior acts of the just man, and for the Pharisees as for any religious group that is at the same time a party or a social group, the members of the group considered themselves as good people.

JESUS invites us to humility if we want to acquire the only righteousness which counts in GOD's eyes, for it is not a matter of acquiring it by means of merit and religious practices but receiving it rather as a gift from GOD destined for those who want HIS pardon and holiness.  It is not by chance that this parable is in the Gospel of Luke, disciple of Paul; for Paul, the converted Pharisee, constantly dwells on what is the true justice of a Christian. What GOD wants for us is so great that we could never buy it with religious practices or good works: but to those who trust HIM GOD gives all [see Romans 4].

Neither is it by chance that JESUS offers us a Pharisee who only knows how to compare himself with another person in order to find himself better than the other.  It is there that the devil waits for all, and for all Christian groups, who pride themselves on having discovered a way to conversion.  Wherever we see a divided Church, whether because of political or religious causes, it is a good guess that people favor such a situation because it allows comparison with others.  It is difficult to belong to a group of "the converted" without looking with charitable compassion on those Christian brethren who have not taken the same road.)

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