October 23, 2022 (30th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

by Fr. Xavier Lavagetto, O.P.

[This is the text composed by the homilist prior to delivering the homily.]

An easy Gospel, right? … It has all the subtlety of old black-and-white TV Westerns. … The Pharisee wears the black hat of self-congratulating pride, … O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity, while the tax collector wears the white hat of humble contrition, O God be merciful to me a sinner.

So whom do you identify with? The Pharisee? … I think not! … The humble tax collector. … Doesn’t genuine sorrow invite God’s mercy? 

But wait a moment! … What if we were more like the Pharisee and gave 10% to Church and charity, think how much good could be done!   … What if we fasted twice a week and prayed 3 times a day, besides the many Jewish blessings, what a great impact our prayer would have!  Our motivations lock or unlock our praying.

The Pharisees wererightly admired, while tax collectors were roundly detested as traitorous leeches and agents of oppression. ...  Yeah, it was a living, but unless you were chief tax collector, not terribly lucrative. Besides, who wants to be that hated?

This parable shocked Jesus’ hearers! … Was the Pharisees’ self-serving prayer really a greater sin than all the tax collector’s many cheats? … Jesus must have made a mistake; he justified the wrong person!

This parable is a trap! …  It tricks us into thinking,  Thank God! I am not like that Pharisee! …  And in that moment, the parable says, Gotcha! … The parable tricked me into judging and in judging, I judged myself. I’ve become that Pharisee!

This parable is more than a lesson on humility; it points to the root of harshness and violence! …  The moment we divide humanity into us versus them, good guys versus bad guys, the moment we’ve judged, we’re not seeing as God does with incredible care.

Jesus was serious when he said: Be compassionate, as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.

Luke hinted this parable was a trap: Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness.  Any righteousness that labels anyone as less is not God’s restorative justice. Any stridency that blinds us to another’s value is an addictive temptation.  The trouble with the habit of judging is that we will always find what we look for even if it is not really there.

We’ve seen it in the politics that give permission to hate. We’ve seen it in moral certainties that cloud our understanding and dim our compassion. It’s so much more fun to judge than to do the hard work of creating new healing possibilities.

It’s tempting to say, O God, I thank you that I am not like …  You fill in the blank.  But remember, how can I stand before God if I don’t stand for others?

Did you notice the Pharisee’s thinking distorted his praying? … The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself . … to himself? (pros eauton)   … Where was his heart ? On himself! …  Who was he praying to? … Himself! … Was he thankful? … Only by comparing himself to others.

This Pharisee wasn’t a terrible man, but he forgot there are no self-made men and women even at Stanford. We stand on the shoulders of so many others, we live with God’s breath, and we are more gifted and grace than we know. Real righteousness begins in God’s forgiving love! It is not our doing, but God’s free gift, offered again and again, but it takes effect only when we receive and live it.   

Sin is more than law-breaking; it is a failed relationship with God; but it begins when God’s friendship is taken for granted. … The Pharisee strove to be good, all by himself, and lost sight of God helping. … The hated tax collector walked away justified; by opening his heart, he gace God space to act: O God, be merciful to me …

I don’t say this to burden you. Quite the opposite. Lighten up! Why not let God live in you, act in you and lead you?

The parable invites awareness and prayer. Make time to notice God in your life and delight! … How should I pray? … with utter simplicity and directness without comparing or judging.

Take it a step further; risk praying with others! Shared prayer opens hearts and shared hearts changes lives.  

In Walter Wangerin’s The Manger is Empty, young Matthew is driving home from the store with his mom. They talked [about] his growing up and how he used to steal comic books. Matthew said, “But you know, Mom, I haven’t stolen comic books for a long, long time.”
His mother said, “I know.” She drew the word out for gratitude: “I knoooow.”
Matthew mused a moment, then said, “Do you know why I stopped the stealing?”
“Sure,” said his mother. “Because Dad spanked you.”  [Too many want a spanking Church it seems!]
“No, Mom,” said Matthew, my son, the child of my heart. He shook his head at his mother’s mistake. “No,” he said, “but because Dad cried!”

Because Dad cried! In his tears, Matthew’s Dad shared his real heart and his deepest prayer with his son! That changed his son!

We tend to project our judgments onto God, while God offers a different way of judging. … a compassion that looks to liberate the goodness in others. We really can’t stand with God if we are not standing with each other. …

God did it in Jesus! In his birth, he stood with us inside our humanity; in his life, he stood with those abandoned, on the cross, he stood with us forgiving, in his tears, he showed the heart of the Father for you.  Tears of love, do you see them? Let them change you!