“A God of Justice” by Rev. Paul
Berghout (@FatherPB)
The LORD is a God of
justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet
he hears the cry of the oppressed. The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the
orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint. The one who serves God
willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. Sirach 35:15-17,20-21
But the tax collector stood
off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his
breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter
went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be
humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:13-14
Piety
Lord have mercy on me, a
sinner.
Study
Narada, the Indian sage, was a
devotee of God and thought that no one loved God more than he. His self-righteousness began to
lead him towards pride and arrogance.
The Lord read his heart and
said, “Narada, go to this town on the banks of the Ganges for a devotee of mine
dwells there. Living with him will do you good.”
Narada went and found a farmer
who rose early in the morning and prayed, but the farmer pronounced the name of
God only once, then lifted his plow and went out to his fields where he worked
the whole day. Just before he fell asleep at night, he pronounced the name of
God once again.
Narada thought, “How can this
farmer be a devotee of God? He only prayed twice a day and then got himself
immersed in his worldly occupation.”
When Narada voiced his opinion
to God, the Lord said to him, “Fill a bowl to the brim with milk and walk all around
the city. Then come back without spilling a single drop.”
Narada did as God told him and
returned. Then the Lord asked him, “How many times did you remember me in the
course of your walk around the city?” Not once,” replied Narada. “How could I when you commanded me to watch
that bowl of milk?”
The Lord said, “That bowl so
absorbed your attention that you forgot me altogether. But look at that farmer
who, though burdened with the cares of supporting a family, remembers me twice
a day.”
The moral of the story: “A halo
has to fall only a few inches to become a noose.”
The tax collector in today’s Gospel
has a contrite and humble heart. Striking
his breast is a sign of compunction of heart like we do in the Penitential
Rite.
Some of us may have been away
from Sunday Mass for a few weeks, or months, or years. Maybe we need to talk to
the Lord about our absence. For others, perhaps for most of us, that might mean
our absence from practicing the faith in our daily lives.
Sometimes we want to join the
Tax Collector and sit in the back and say, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.” We
all need the mercy of God.
In contrast, the Pharisee is
virtually praying to himself. It’s selfish self-talk: “O God, I thank you that
I am not like the rest of humanity: greedy, dishonest, adulterous – or even
like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole
income.”
About 80 percent of our daily
communication is self-talk. Good self-talk comes from King David, who said,
“Bless the Lord, my soul... and forget none of His benefits. He forgives all
your iniquities.”
The Pharisee also took the tax
collector’s “moral inventory,” which breaks a primary rule not to do someone
else’s examination of conscience. Parents have to use discernment when
assessing any sinful behavior in their children, so they focus on the issue at
hand.
Since the Pharisee compared
himself to the wretched tax collector by saying, “I am not like one of these,”
the Pharisee lost his credibility in the eyes of Jesus. He should have said, “But
for the grace of God, there go I.”
Next, this Pharisee mentions
fasting twice during the week. This Pharisee was boasting, in other words, of
an asceticism beyond the norm.
The Pharisee had a spirituality
of achievement, performance, worthiness. It presents Christianity like, “We
have the perfect medicine for what ails you: It’s called grace and mercy. But
the only requirement for receiving it is never to need it!”
Action
We genuinely find both moral
achievement and repentance linked throughout Jewish and Christian tradition. To
take on the yoke of the kingdom of God is to commit to following the
commandments. However, one has also to
be aware that no one is without sin (1 Kings 8:46; Proverbs 20:9). The two need
to be kept in balance, just as we find God’s attributes of justice and compassion
alongside each other.
A closing illustration:
A particular president happened
to visit a prison and thus talked with each of the inmates. There were endless
tales of innocence, of misunderstood motives, of how they should not be in
prison, and of exploitation. Finally, the president stopped at the cell of a
convict who remained silent.
"Well," remarked
president, "I suppose you are an innocent victim too?"
"No, Sir, I am not,"
replied the inmate. "I am guilty and deserve my punishment."
Turning to the warden, the
president said, "Here, release this rascal before he corrupts all these
fine, innocent people here!"
The biblical saying proves
true, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (1 Pet
5:5). Amen.
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