In our gospel parable today, we are presented with two characters that we are already very familiar with. We might even say that we are also presented with caricatures: the evil Pharisee and the simple and honest Tax Collector. In the context of last week's extortion on real prayer, we are given a glimpse of two styles of prayer—styles that still exist today. The Pharisee is the entitled narcissist who sees the world revolving around him. Jesus is targeting this parable at 'those who prided themselves at being virtuous and despised everyone else.' I would argue that it this hypocrisy that turns so many away from the Church. Thankfully I have only experienced a few people like this in my years of ministry, but these very few have been toxic and destroyed relationships. They have wreaked so much damage and hurt in their arrogant displays of entitlement.

In his prayer, the Pharisee sees himself as perfect: he does everything so well. He fasts, pays tithes and presents himself as a paragon of justice. However, there is an element of self-serving here—he is the one writing the positive review of himself. We see his lack of empathy for others as he writes them off as 'grasping, unjust and adulterous!' He has such a high opinion of himself that the rest of humanity, especially this tax collector, cannot match his high standards. As a modern Church, we need to fight against this form of elitism, especially as Jesus came for all. If anything, his ministry concentrated on those who were less than perfect. However, our modern pharisees do not seem to have got the memo. In your parish, look to those who hang around at the end of a function or a special liturgy. Who is sitting around, basking in the glory of, what they see, their unique contribution? However, who is bleaching the toilets, and washing the dishes? Who are the ones who roll up their sleeves and make a difference—they are prepared to walk the walk. The Christian pharisee will, on the other hand, make a big point of just talking the talk—incessantly!

The tax collector is a hated figure of fun in first century Galilee. Tax collectors have never been that popular down through the ages, but those who cheat and work with a Roman army of occupation deserve a special place in the hierarchy of dislike. As is so often the case, we learn a valuable lesson from the religious misfit. While the pharisee is content to confess the sins of the tax collector, the latter is all too aware of his need for redemption in his life. His prayer is all too simple: 'Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner!' He might never be invited to the homes of the respectable, but he 'goes home again at rights with God.' We are invited to join a loving relationship with God who knows and trusts us fully. Once in that relationship we have the opportunity to know and trust ourselves. Sadly, the Pharisee did not know himself at all, while the tax collector had a keen sense of his own failings.

As we have the opportunity to approach the sacrament of reconciliation, let us be aware of our own failings. It is so easy to gaslight or use smoke and mirrors to deflect problems away from ourselves. The Gospel parables of forgiveness and acceptance show that reconciliation lies at the heart of God. It is in our brokenness and hurt, that we will often discover who we really are. If you are anything like me, you know that you fail—only the most deeply narcissistic among us would never admit failure. To the pharisee of today's parable, just admitting that you might be weak is a failure in itself. I have, honestly, come to discover late in life, that we need to embrace our failures and learn from them. It may seem harsh for the eminent spiritual thinker, Richard Rohr to proclaim that 'religion is a good place to hide from God', but there is a lot of truth in it—today's parable is a prime example of that reflection. For those unwilling or unable to face failure, then they will never be able to embrace the total gift of love given to us in the sacrament of reconciliation.

Author: Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB

Photo by Orkun Azap on Unsplash