Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

         Two brothers were visiting their grandmother. On the first night of their visit, they knelt by their bed to pray. Shouting as loudly as he could, the younger brother prayed: “And please God, I need a new bike and skateboard.” “Shh!” said the older brother. “God isn’t deaf.” To which the younger brother replied, “Yes, I know, but Grandma is.” Technically, the boy was praying to God, but like the Pharisee in today’s Gospel, he was doing so to benefit himself.

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Entrance Antiphon: Ps 105(104):3-4 – “Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice; turn to the Lord and His strength; constantly seek His face.”

First Reading: Sir 35:12-14, 16-18 – “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.”

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23 – “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.”

Second Reading: 2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18 – “From now on, the crown of righteousness awaits me.”

Alleluia: 2 Cor 5:19 – “Alleluia, alleluia. God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ and entrusting us the message of salvation. Alleluia, alleluia.”

Gospel: Lk 18:9-14 ­ “The tax collector, not the Pharisee, went home justified.”

Communion Antiphon: Ps 20(19):6 – “We will ring out our joy at Your saving help and exult in the name of our God.”

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         So, I have a question for you today. What are your motives for doing the things that you do? I’m not looking for an immediate answer. Only you, and God, really know, but periodically I think we all need to examine those motives. And this is why. I believe that it is by seeing ourselves in honest relationship to God and society that we will achieve our best work and ultimately gather the rewards of that work. By looking beyond ourselves at the needs of others, we can gain some humility and humanity.

         Authentic prayer produces change. Raymond Brown, an eminent Scripture scholar, once said that if no change occurs as a result of prayer, then one has not really prayed. In today’s Gospel, Saint Luke portrays two men at prayer. Both leave the temple and probably looked much the same to anyone going into the temple. One man (the tax collector) left a changed person, in right relationship with God. The other (the Pharisee) was not. He aimed his prayer at himself and his accomplishments rather than in awe, humility, and gratitude toward God.

         So, while many of you might have smiled or chuckled in response to the anecdote about the child’s prayer, when you really think about it … even though it’s a similar situation … I don’t believe we tend to be sympathetic toward the Pharisee. And yet, in the eyes of his contemporaries, he would have been considered an exemplary spiritual model. (Tax collectors, on the other hand, were considered suspect, dishonest, thieving people, the least respected of society … they were Jews who “sold out” to the Romans … working with them to benefit themselves and the Romans and not their fellow Jews.) If you listen carefully, everything the Pharisee said in his prayer was true. He fasted twice a week … only one day a year (the Day of Atonement) was required by the law. He tithed on everything he owned … however the law required a tithe only of the produce of crops and flocks. When we examine the Pharisee’s pious self-assurance through the lens of the Good News of Jesus, we can see that he missed the mark … first by being so sure of his own merits and achievements … and second by failing to credit God, the source of his blessings. The tax collector recognized God as the Source of all good and asked only for God’s compassion and forgiveness.

         In today’s First Reading, Jesus ben Sira, the author of the book of Sirach, reminds us that those who allow God to change their hearts in prayer make other discoveries. God, who hears all prayers, also has the power to change weeping into laughter … weakness into strength … oppression into freedom … and complaint into contentment. God is totally impartial in response to our prayer. God is not swayed by social status, but by authentic prayer offered along with sincere service.

         In the Second Reading, prayer produced a similar conversion or change of heart in Paul, as his letter to Timothy shows. Facing a trial that could result in his death, he refused to consider himself a victim. He could have blamed the community of believers of which he was a part for abandoning him. Rather, he saw himself as a partner in the suffering of Christ that brought salvation.

         Today, when we leave this church, we will each look pretty much the same as we looked coming in. Hopefully, the change in us … precipitated by our prayer … will become obvious in the coming week with its ups and downs, joys and sorrows, successes and frustrations. Whether or not we have experienced change as a result of our prayer, and whether or not that change can be sustained, will depend upon the renewing power of our daily prayer and daily service.

         As we prepare to celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we need to pray for the openness to change our behavior through our prayer.