27 October 2019. 30 Sunday of Ordinary Time. Cycle C.
A new call to attention from Jesus, who invites us to reflect on our attitude in life and in our prayer. He does so with a parable: Two men go to the temple to pray. A Pharisee, who complies with all the commandments, fair, does not steal or kill, contributes and give alms… Full of his own holiness. He has nothing to ask forgiveness for. He despises the other who is a sinner. He does not love. The other is a publican, a public sinner, who recognizes his bad life. He feels like a sinner before God and hopes for his mercy. He has faith.
Pride versus humility. Jesus says that the latter came out saved and the other one not. This should be a good time to analyze our attitude. Do I try to justify the way I act? With what attitude do I stand before God? Do I consider myself to be “better” than others? Jesus asks us to “be perfect as our heavenly Father”, but not that we believe it. If only we could be as St. Paul and say: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”. Then we would be close to reaching its same crown.
Juan Ramón Gómez Pascual, cmf
