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Reflections
for Sunday, October 27, 2013
If we pray and expect that our prayers might be heard, then we must pray
humbly, asking the mercy of the Lords and not demanding his attention. We
can give our love and prayers to Him, expecting nothing but having total
confidence in His love for us and that He will arrange all things for our
good.
The first reading today is from the book of Sirach, one of the Wisdom
books. This book teaches us about many things: God has no favorites, the
prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds and will reach its goal.
We can compare this to the Gospel today, from Saint Luke, which presents us
with two people, both praying. The first person tells God all that he has
done that is good. The other simply tells God that he is a sinner. The
sinner is heard.
There is so much fear today of admitting that we are sinners or about
defining ourselves as sinners. We would rather be known as children of
God, as those loved by God. Both ways of looking at us are true. On the
other hand, although we are children of God and loved by God, we are not
faithful to Him and do not respond to His love. He never rejects us. Both
descriptions of us are true and yet from our side, truly we are only
sinners and merit nothing and that is a truth from which we should not
hide.
We can always rejoice that He loves us, that He invites us to share His
life, that He constantly reaches out to us no matter how many times we turn
away. We need to have that confidence in Him. Yet we should never be
ashamed to admit: I am a sinner and unworthy of His love.
What a miracle that He loves us! What infinite compassion He has towards
us! What tender mercy He shows to us!
The second Letter to Timothy gives us the perspective of Saint Paul: I
have kept in the race, I have persevered, I trust in the Lord. The race is
simply to live our life here on earth with this total trust in God, no
matter how often we fail or turn aside. We know the truth of this life:
God loves us. We know the path of this life: love of God and love of our
neighbor, especially our enemy. We know that He will always give us the
strength to believe if we only ask Him.
My sisters and brothers, God invites us to see ourselves as we are. The
more humbly we live, the more confidence we have in His love and
compassion. Let us take the time today to pray as did the Tax Collector:
Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Readings of the day:
First Reading: Sirach 35.15-17, 20-22
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 4.6-8, 16-18
Gospel: Luke 18.9-14
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