From The Bishop

The Readings for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time help us to focus on the virtue of humility In the Gospel of St. Luke we are presented with two individuals praying in the Temple. One is a pharisee and the other is a tax collector. The pharisee is puffed up with the sin of pride. In his prayer he is “exalting himself” and telling God that he is so much better than everyone else, “I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” The tax collector’s prayer was much simpler and was filled with humility, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” He was humbling himself before God. In the First Reading from Sirach, we are told that the “prayer of the humble pierces the clouds, and it will not rest until it reaches its goal”. Why is the prayer of the humble more powerful than the prayer of the arrogant? The refrain of the Responsorial Psalm gives the answer: “The poor one called and the Lord heard”. The poor have nothing and must depend on the Lord for everything. The more we have the greater the temptation to depend on ourselves more than God. We become self-centered and blind to our faults. We see this clearly in the pharisee. It is interesting to note that when the pharisee lists all that he has done, he concludes that he is better than everyone else. The Second Reading (2 Tim) offers a sharp contrast. St. Paul lists all that he has accomplished and in conclusion, he focuses on God rather than himself. “But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength…The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” He does not consider himself better than everyone else. Today is World Mission Sunday. St. Therese of Lisieux is the Patroness of the Missions. Her mission was to help save souls and she did this with great humility by following her “Little Way”. We all want to be saved and the Readings remind us that a significant part of that is to have a humble heart. “God be merciful to me a sinner.”