This week's reading from Luke gives us this famous story of the Pharisee and the tax collector, contrasting one's pride with the other's humility. Going against type the publicly religious man is the "villain," while the public sinner is the sympathetic character. Jesus is forever turning things on their head, challenging people's perceptions of reality. Tax collectors were hated, not simply because people didn't like paying taxes (of course they didn't, human nature never changes), but because the taxmen worked for Rome, their foreign occupiers, and were often exploitative, collecting more than the prescribed levy through coercive methods. It's not that Jesus is glorifying sin and injustice, but rather pointing out for us the nature of true repentance and religious devotion.
The Pharisee is shown taking his place in the temple. It's business as usual for him, in a way. This might be a routine he follows every week, or maybe even everyday. He scrupulously recounts all his good deeds; he fasts and even pays tithes. These are good and noble things for sure, but why does he do them? Are they for God or have these, and the other religious observances of his life, become a habit he does for their own sake? We are all called to a life of virtue, where doing the right thing becomes so ingrained that it's second nature to us (in other words doing good becomes a habit). But true virtue leads us outward, to worship and give praise to God and help others in His name. In the case of this Pharisee Jesus tells us that he prays "to himself." He is not acknowledging the power of God in his life, but is caught up with his own actions. Consciously or, I would more likely suspect, subconsciously the Pharisee thinks he's saving himself, rather than God giving him the grace of fidelity.
If we look at today's second reading from St. Paul's Letter to Timothy (4:6-8, 16-18) it would be tempting to think that he is falling into the same trap as our friend the Pharisee. He's talking about how he's finished the race and is awaiting the crown of glory that God, the just Judge, will surly give him. Isn't he being a bit presumptuous? Paul, never one for false modesty, crows a bit because he knows that it was God's grace that made all his successes possible. It was God who stood by him through the tough times. When all his friends abandoned him, it was the Almighty who rescued him from the "lion's mouth." God did this so that he could complete his mission to preach the Good News to the Gentiles. His time was coming to an end, he could see that, but it did not trouble him because he had been faithful to his mission. Paul lived, not for himself, but for the Gospel of Christ and it's spread. For this he he could rest assured of a place in the heavenly kingdom.
Our other friend from the parable, the tax collector, knows that he has been on the wrong path. He examines his actions and beats his breast, a traditional sign of repentance, going home justified. Now the real work begins, because repentance means a turning back to God and leaving the old life behind. The mistake many in the contemporary world make is thinking that God's forgiveness comes with no expectations. He will forgive us no matter how many times we fall, but he also wants to see the fruits of repentance lived out in our lives, to go and sin no more. He even tells one man he cures to stop sinning "so that nothing worse may happen to you." (Jn 5:14) Don Bosco used to say that going to confession would only have long lasting benefits if penitents made a firm resolution to put aside the sins that repeatedly plagued them. The tax collector goes home justified because with God's grace he is ready to make the changes necessary that will lead to eternal life.
The answer is not to think that our religious observances are useless. Going to Mass on Sundays, observing holy days of obligation, going to confession regularly, being faithful to the Lenten abstinence and fasts, among other things, is the way we show our love for God in concrete ways. But the key is to remember why we do them. They help us to put God at the center of our lives and should point us outward to love our neighbor. They are also meant to remind us of our dependence on God as the giver of all good things, the things we truly need to make us happy. Our life in the Church is meant to remind us that it is the Lord who stands by us always, raises us up when we fall, and will give us that imperishable crown of victory when the race of life is faithfully completed.
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