Sir. 35:12-14, 16-18; Ps. 34:2-3, 17-19, 23; 2 Tim. 4:6-8, 16-18; Lk.18:9-14
“O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” This is the cry of the poor for by our sin we are all poor and in need of God’s mercy. We are oppressed by our sins and the temptation to sin. Born with concupiscence our fallen nature is in need forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit through baptism. Baptism prepares the soul to grow in holiness with the virtues to face the enemy both from within and from without. Our God is merciful to those who seek him in our sorrow, suffering, and petition.
“The Lord redeems the lives of his servants”. St. Paul claims to be the Lord’s servant but so does the Pharisee yet Jesus makes a clear distinction between the two. What separates the two in the eyes of Jesus and who do we resemble the most? St. Paul who claims “the crown of righteousness” or the Pharisee who exalted himself in his view of righteousness?
St. Paul’s famous line “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith” is his claim to righteousness. This servant of the Lord did what the Lord called him to do and “poured” himself out like a “libation” meaning he sacrificed himself out of love of God. He did not deny God what was asked of him. The Pharisee took the position of legalism having check off the boxes of compliance he now felt entitled and exalted himself. The Pharisee did not stop to ask God what did God desire of him. St. Paul was filled with the love of God while the Pharisee was filled with the love of self.
Have we stopped to ask God what he desires of us? In our daily life God is active providing opportunities to respond as his servant, do his will, and be the hand of God that offers his love. Our godly call is to be in imitation of Jesus. Jesus’ incarnation brought his divinity to our humanity that we may imitate his divinity in our frail human weakness through the power of the Holy Spirit. If our life is simply to serve our humanity by our own desires of life then “religion” becomes a self-righteous practice of self-justification reflected in the comments of the Pharisee.
Religion, that is the church is a gift of God to raise our humanity to God’s divinity. It is the means to an end and not an end in itself. The end in itself is God who provides us the means. Through the sacraments, the word, and the testimony of the Holy Spirit, Jesus left us the path to true righteousness and to heaven.
Today we are reminded that “the Lord is a God of justice who knows no favorites”. God reconciles both his love and his justice in Jesus. Jesus is the sacrifice that is to live within us that we may make up what is still lacking and waiting to be fulfilled through us. Our God is merciful to the soul that receives Jesus and responds in the same spirit of Mary’s fiat “let it be done to me according to thy word”. As Jesus entered the womb of Mary, he also enters into our soul to be united as one in truth waiting only for our response to his will. This is what is lacking, our response to do his will. If today you hear his voice, say “yes Lord, I come to do your will”.
“O Lord be merciful to me a sinner” is the prayer of a soul that reflects God’s righteousness and not our own claim to truth. If today we find ourselves broken, trust in the Lord by continuing to serve God willingly for our prayer is being answered justly with the goal that is meant to lead us to heaven. It is not the years on this earth that determine our destiny but our surrender to God and in his mercy our guilt is washed clean. The Lord is our refuge in good times and in bad, in joy and in suffering, in temptation from the desires of the flesh and in the attack from the evil one. Keep the faith and we will have competed well and the crown of righteousness is at the finish line.
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