Lk.18:9-14
I would like to share a small story that I read in a novel. I remember neither the novel nor the author but this story that was given on the last page is fresh in my mind. The story goes thus. There were three old monks in an island. They led an exemplary life but they were not much educated. They did not even know the common prayers. Anyhow, one day the bishop of the place decided to visit these monks and instruct them on faith. He was quite surprised by the fact that these monks did not even know the prayer ‘Our father’. Not convinced of their prayer life, he decided to teach them the prayer Our father. Somehow they managed to learn the prayer. Content with the thought that he taught them at-least one prayer, the bishop returned to his ship with a chest swelling with pride as much as his ship’s sail was swollen with wind that was taking him and the crew back home. He looked back to the island from the deck and was surprised at what he saw…
How we define the spirituality of a person? It is not easy task. We consider a person as spiritual, when he/she is pious or regular with the activities of the church. All these can be considered as the external signs of being spiritual. However, if we limit our understanding to this realm, it will be incomplete. The term ‘spirituality’ is much more than a person does, it is the person himself/herself. A person who thinks himself/herself as perfect and others as imperfect is not a spiritual person. Spiritual person is the one who accept his failures and accepts others with their limitations and nurtures and cares others with his/her God experience.
In today’s gospel, Jesus sets before us two kinds of people. One is a Pharisee who seemed to be pious in the eyes of the society and the other, a tax collector who is labelled a sinner. Both came to pray. The Pharisee tries to convince the Lord that he is not unjust, not grasping and not an adulterous like everyone and especially not like the tax collector who stands close to him. He also trumpeted his austerity, the fact that he fasts twice a week and is regular with tithes. Whereas, the tax collector did not even look up, and uttered only one thing. ‘O God be merciful to me a sinner.’
Jesus presents this tax collector as a model for our spirituality. He accepted his failures and sought God’s mercy to his existential life situations whereas, the Pharisee judged the tax collector as unjust, grasping, adulterous and condemned him in front of the Lord. This is the danger all of us can fall into. We may consider ourselves as self-righteous and better off than others. As a result, we tend to justify ourselves in front of the Lord, all our all our deeds and comfortably close our eyes towards our own shortcomings and failures. At the same time, we would never tolerate the failure of the other and with a judging heart condemn them. Our prayers should always be of humble surrender. None of us are worthy to justify ourselves in front of the Lord. And also we should not accuse our brethren in front of the Lord. They may have their own failures as they stand in need of God’s mercy; so do we. At times, we may think that we are perfect; but others may know our imperfections. God knows each and every thought and instances of our life. As we continue our spiritual journey let us look upon our fellow brethren with a compassionate heart and pray sincerely for God’s mercy.
…. The monks were approaching the bishop, walking on the water (that’s right, “walking on the water”). They told him that they had forgotten the prayer, he had taught. The bishop asked them what their usual prayer was? One of the monks explained that they pray only one ejaculation: “You are three there, we are three here, have mercy on us.” Bishop told them that they didn’t need to learn any new prayers; it was enough to continue the same prayer. With great humility he continued his journey.