30th Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
Sirach
assures us that the “Lord is a God of justice, who knows no
favorites. . .[He] is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to
the widow. . .The one who serves God willingly is heard. . .The
prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.” Paul assures Timothy that
as he, Paul, reaches the end of his life: “. . .the Lord stood by
me and gave me strength. . .And I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat. . .” Both Sirach
and Paul assure us all that our God is faithful to those who live
their days in humility, in humble service to the proclamation of the
Word. He hears and answers the prayers of the lowly and rescues those
who serve His will. How do we become lowly? How do we bind ourselves
to His will and serve out our days in His service? Jesus offers a
parable. Two men go to the temple to pray. One is a Pharisee; the
other a tax collector. The Pharisee believes himself to be righteous
by his deeds. The tax collector knows himself to be a sinner and
cries out for God's mercy. Which one leaves the temple justified,
made just by God?
The
question here is not: which one is a righteous? The Pharisee is
self-righteous; the tax collector is made-righteous. The question is:
which one leaves the temple justified; that is, which one is made
just in his humility
before God? My question gives away the answer. You see, we already
know that the Pharisee's prayer in the temple is useless. First, to
whom does he pray? Jesus says, “The Pharisee took up his position
and spoke this prayer
to himself. . .” He
offers his praise and thanksgiving to himself. He is his own god.
Second, how does he pray? He praises himself for not being a sinner;
he gives himself thanks for “not being like the rest of
humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous.” And lastly, how does he
think that he made himself righteous? “I fast twice a week, and I
pay tithes on my whole income.” Works. He believes that pious
works—w/o mercy, humility, or love—makes him righteous. Now, we
know that the tax collector leaves the temple justified. Instead of
praising himself for not being like other men, the tax collector does
the only thing a truly self-aware sinner can do: he throws himself
into the hands of God and cries out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, a
sinner!” Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; whoever humbles
himself will be exalted.
And
why should that be the case? Why are the humble exalted and the
self-exalted humbled? Is God so paranoid about His status as Lord of
the Universe that He can't take a little human competition for
exaltation? Is He so worried about not getting His due that He has to
rub our faces in how dependent we are on Him? I mean, come on,
getting holy is no joy ride; it's not easy or quick. Getting to
holiness takes a lot of determination, dedication, and plain ole
hard work. Why shouldn't we be allowed to pay ourselves on the back
when we achieve righteousness? Seems only fair! Fair or not, we can
do nothing good w/o God. Every good thing we achieve, every good word
we utter is motivated and sustained by the goodness of God, sustained
by Him for our benefit. He gets nothing out of our good works.
Nothing.
All the benefits of mercy, love, forgiveness; all the profits from
our holy labors, all of it accrues to us, enriches us, and brings us
closer to His perfection. And all this happens—the goodness of our
works and the benefits they accrue—b/c we are created to be made
perfect in divine love. God wills that we use the gifts He gives so
that His love might be perfected in each one of us. Accepting this
truth is the beginning of humility.
So what then obstructs our
growth in humility? We know the vice that opposes the virtue of
humility is pride. What is pride? Pride isn't about taking pleasure
on one's achievements, or claiming that one's nation, state, or team
is particularly wonderful. Being proud of your children for academic
and athletic awards isn't the sort of pride that thwarts humility.
True Pride—the sort our ancestors put in first place on the list of
Deadly Sins—is the erroneous belief that we do not need God; that
we do not require His help b/c we are perfectly capable of saving
ourselves from sin and death; that we are not only capable of saving
ourselves but that we prefer to save ourselves. Pride leads us to
believe that working for social justice and equality will save us;
that holding the right beliefs and attitudes will save us; that
saying the right prayers in the right order the right number of times
will save us; that giving money to the Church, to charity will save
us. Pride insists that we are each self-sufficient, independent, and
absolutely alone. And that with these superlative qualities, we can
become god w/o God. The serpent says to Eve, “when you eat [the
forbidden fruit] your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods.
. .” That serpent's name is Hubris, Pride.
Pride
leads us away from God, so how do we overcome it? Like the tax
collector at prayer in the temple, there's only one way to triumph
over the self-righteousness that pride instills in us: throw yourself
on God's mercy! Why is this the only way? B/c only God Himself can
make you righteous; only God Himself can bring you out of sin and
death and restore you to your rightful place in His Holy Family. He
gives us His only Son, Christ Jesus, as the only means, the only Way,
back to Him. And with the Holy Spirit pushing us toward perfection,
pouring out for us and into us gift after gift after gift, we
accomplish all that God commands us to accomplish for His greater
glory. The Pharisee's good works are just that: his good
works. Yes, tithing and fasting and praying are all perfectly
wonderful spiritual exercises. But before a spiritual exercise can be
efficacious, there must be a relationship of love established btw the
human heart and Love Himself. Fortunately for us, God Himself
initiated this relationship at the instant of creation, installing
into every human heart and mind the gnawing need to seek Him out and
live with Him forever. To think that I can satisfy this need for
myself is Pride distilled into the darkest, deadliest poison.
Luke
tells us that Jesus addresses his parable to a very specific
audience: “. . .to those who were convinced of their own
righteousness and despised everyone else.” We can't help but
make the connection btw self-righteousness and hatred.
Self-righteousness—born, bred, and nurtured in pride—rejects the
necessity of loving others; it leads us to deny the need for mercy,
forgiveness, trust in others. If I can make myself righteous, why do
I need you? Or God? Or the Church? If my social justice causes and
good works and charitable donations are enough, why bother with
humility? Why bother with all that “love your neighbor” nonsense?
Why bother? Sirach answers: “The one who serves God willingly is
heard. . .The prayer of the lowly
pierces the clouds.” Paul answers: “I am already being poured out
like a libation. . .I have competed well; I have finished the race; I
have kept the faith.” How do we answer? We throw ourselves on the
mercy of God, confessing our sins, knowing that the Lord hears the
cries of the poor—the poor in spirit, the truly humble, those most
in need of His care, and those most willing to take into the world
His re-creating love.
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