Today’s Gospel Text:
He
also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and despised others: 10 "Two men went up into the
temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, 'God, I thank thee that I am not like other men,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, I give
tithes of all that I get.' 13 But the tax collector, standing
far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast,
saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself
will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:9-14
Reflection: Here
it is; a message for some who trust in themselves and consider that they are righteous and
despise others. (vs.9)
And
if you thought that this is the only category of people who exist, then you could
be wrong.
For
there are some who trust in themselves and may not despise others.
There
could be some who could trust in themselves and know that they are not righteous
and yet may not take steps in any positive directions, beginning with the need for self-distrust.
They
could be some who may rarely trust in themselves and may have a very low
self-image about themselves.
And
there could be categories who swing according to moods or vacillate between the
various categories.
What then is the right attitude for a Christian and why should they not follow
one of the above categories of people?
The
right attitude is that of distrusting oneself and trusting God in all things and
everything. We cannot trust ourselves
totally for we are capable of deceiving ourselves, especially when it comes to the eternal path and in recognizing the God of our salvation.
It
is this deception which has been the cause of the birth of many religions, each
deceived into creating their own and also creating the many divisions in the
church of God.
To
those deceived, even a statement like this can create great bit of insecurity and hurt and may be wrongly interpreted to mean the things they understand as right.
God
in Christ Jesus came to reveal to the whole of humanity the pathway to eternal
salvation and hence he is the one to be trusted, he who proved himself by the
action of the cross.
Prayer: Lord,
help me to trust you and receive the justice which you have established through
your passion, death and resurrection.
DD = Dedicated
Discipleship: Come grow
in the Lord with us
