Bishop Barron's Gospel Reflection March 30, 2019

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Third Week of Lent

Luke 18:9-14

Friends, today Jesus tells us of the Pharisee and the tax collector—so, a stereotypically righteous person and unrighteous person—who both enter the Temple to pray. But what a world of difference in their manner of praying! The entire point of religion is to make us humble before God and to open us to the path of love. Everything else is more or less a footnote. Liturgy, prayer, the precepts of the Church, the Commandments, sacraments, sacramentals—all of it—are finally meant to conform us to the way of love. When they instead turn us away from that path, they have been undermined. Both St. Paul and the Gospel writers—as well as Jesus himself, of course—are intensely aware of this danger. This is precisely why Paul speaks of the dangers of the law. He knew that people often use the law as a weapon of aggression: since I know what is right and wrong in some detail, then I am uniquely positioned to point out your flaws. And when I point out your flaws, I elevate myself. In short, the law, which is a gift from God, has been co-opted for the purposes of the ego. Reflect: How can pride stand in the way of love? Why does true humility encourage love?  Reading 1 Hos 6:1-6 "Come, let us return to the LORD, it is he who has rent, but he will heal us; he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds. He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, to live in his presence. Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD; as certain as the dawn is his coming, and his judgment shines forth like the light of day! He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth." What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your piety is like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away. For this reason I smote them through the prophets, I slew them by the words of my mouth; For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Responsorial Psalm Ps 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab R. (see Hosea 6:6)  It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice. Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. R. It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice. For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it. My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. R. It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice. Be bountiful, O LORD, to Zion in your kindness by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem; Then shall you be pleased with due sacrifices, burnt offerings and holocausts. R. It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice. Gospel Lk 18:9-14 Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. "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. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.' But 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.' I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."