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“Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee
and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his
position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that
I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or
even like this tax collector.’” Luke 18:10–11
What a sad prayer. Of course it wasn’t even a prayer to God since
the Pharisee “spoke this prayer to himself.” The prayer of the tax
collector, however, was a perfect model for all prayer. We read
that 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.’” Which prayer more resembles your own
prayer?
To honestly answer that question, let’s examine both prayers. First
of all, the contrast of these two prayers is a contrast between
humility and pride. The Pharisee was clearly full of pride. Pride
blinds us from true self-knowledge. Saint Teresa of Ávila teaches
us that the very first thing we must do on our journey to God is
obtain self-knowledge through humility. Without that, we will never
grow in holiness.
The sin of pride is obvious in the prayer of the Pharisee and,
therefore, his lack of true self-knowledge is also evident. Note
that even his physical posture of standing depicts pride.
Throughout the Scriptures, kneeling, or even falling prostrate, is
the disposition of the humble. In addition to standing, the
Pharisee’s prayer was a list of his own goodness. He very well may
have fasted twice a week and paid tithes on his whole income. But
his prayer suggests that he did this by his own effort. He did not
ascribe those acts to the grace and strength of God, which means
they were not true acts of charity. His prayer suggests that he
doesn’t need God in order to do good. This is also seen in the fact
that he asks nothing of God. Instead, he simply thanks God for how
good he is through his own effort. The result is that God gives him
nothing, since he asked for nothing.
True prayer must begin with the humble recognition of our weakness
and need for God. The tax collector expressed this humility by
bowing his head to the ground, not even daring to look up to
Heaven. This reveals he did not consider himself worthy of God’s
grace. Truth be told, he wasn’t worthy of it. That’s why God’s
grace is a mercy. It is all mercy in that He bestows that which we
are not worthy to receive. And He only bestows it on those who know
they are not worthy of it. The words spoken by the tax collector
are the perfect model of prayer because his words depict these
truths. As a sinner, he doesn’t deserve mercy but begs for God’s
grace as an act of God’s mercy.
When you pray, how do you pray? What is the disposition of your
heart and for what do you pray? Begin by considering the physical
position in which you pray. Though we can pray standing, sitting,
kneeling or even lying down, there is something very good about
kneeling or even lying prostrate. It doesn’t mean we have to do so
the entire time we pray, but it is a good practice to kneel, bow
your head or fall down prostrate before God at least for a moment
each day. Do you do this? If not, consider making this a daily
habit. When you pray, do you begin your prayer with humility? We
begin the Mass by examining our conscience and confessing our sins.
This is a good example of how to begin your prayer every time you
pray. Humble yourself by calling to mind your sins and weaknesses.
Confess them to God and acknowledge the fact that, because of your
sins, you are unworthy of God’s mercy. Humility like this will help
you to see yourself as God sees you, and this will help you open
yourself to the grace you need from God to grow in holiness.
Reflect, today, upon the humility found in the prayer of this tax
collector. As you do, look at your own practice of prayer and
discern whether you imitate this tax collector's disposition and
prayer. Try to commit to physically humbling yourself before our
Lord every day. Kneel, bow your head, or fall down prostrate every
day. When you do pray, beg for mercy as one who doesn’t deserve
anything from God. This is the humble truth on which all prayer
must be based. The more you can humble yourself this way, the more
God will lift you up and pour forth His mercy upon you.
O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I bow before You, most
glorious and merciful God. I offer You my praise and gratitude for
Your abundant mercy in my life. I am not worthy of You and Your
grace, but You bestow it anyway. For that I thank You with profound
gratitude and beg for the ongoing gift of Your grace. Jesus, I
trust in You.
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