From Pride to Humility: Lessons in Repentance and Grace
March 9, 2024 - Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
Hosea 6:1-6; Psalm 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab; Luke 18:9-14
The parable of "The Pharisee and the Tax Collector" is preceded by an introductory note that "Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else" (Luke 18:9). In the parable, the Pharisee is an example of such a person. He flaunts his pious deeds and considers “other men” to be "extortioners, unjust, adulterers" (Luke 18:11-12). By comparing himself with sinners, he does not realize that he is a sinner himself. By exalting himself above the tax collector, he forgets the proverb that says: "God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble" (Prov 3:34 LXX; 1 Peter 5:5).
Our Gospel is preceded by a fragment from a well-known penitential psalm, Psalm 51, that is connected with David's acknowledgment of his most grave sin: adultery and murder (see 2 Sam 11). The biblical author sees the king's sin as an act of despising God's word. Prophet Nathan, who came to confront David, asks: "Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight?" (2 Sam 12:9). David had no answer to that question. But the words of Nathan pierced his heart and moved him to genuine confession: "I have sinned against the LORD" (2 Sam 12:13).
In the first reading, we hear Hosea's well-known statement that God does not desire sacrifices and burnt offerings but love and knowledge of God (Hosea 6:6). The psalmist comes to a similar realization and instead of offering sacrifices, he presents to the Lord "a heart" that is "contrite and humbled" (Ps 51:17). And that is the difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector. The first offered his tithes; the second offered his contrite heart.
Prophet Hosea calls us to return to the Lord, and the tax collector asks God to “be propitious” to him. In temple worship, the blood of sacrifice for the sin offering was poured out upon the "propitiation" - the cover of the ark of the covenant (Heb. 9:5; Lev. 16:5.14). But we have a much greater “propitiation" than the cover of the ark, namely Jesus Christ. God has shown His mercy to us, sinners, by giving His only Son (John 3:16). Jesus Christ is "the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).
The lesson is clear. Let us not despise other people. Sin is universal, and all need God’s mercy. Moreover, “We will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Rom. 14:10). The posture and the prayer of the tax collector are worth imitating. Aware of our sinfulness, we come to God for His mercy and then go home justified by His grace.