God and the Humble!

Sunday, October 26, 2025

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sir 35:12-14, 16-18; 2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18; Lk 18:9-14

The thirtieth Sunday in ordinary time invites us to discover the relationship between humility and prayer.

If we hold that it is easy for the humble to find the Lord, then the three readings of today become an example of the fact. 

Our thoughts about God profoundly affect our relationship with others. When we take a close look at the Gospel, we discover the difference. The nuances of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector are amazing. 

At first, we must note that Jesus addressed this parable to those who were ‘convinced’ of their righteousness and despised others as a result of their self-righteousness. By giving the Pharisee’s example, Jesus lets us discover the danger of self-sufficiency. The Pharisee begins to thank God not for what God has done but for what he has done to God by being the good one. It is with such unmistakable self-righteousness that the Pharisee goes to pray while the tax collector stands far off at a distance. The Pharisee’s confidence in God’s presence reveals his sense of ‘self-righteousness,’ while the tax collector’s remorse is highlighted through his hesitation to keep himself away at a distance, not daring to look up. Secondly, the passage mentions that the Pharisee ‘took up’ his position as if to ‘address’ God and not to pray to God in humility. Thirdly, the Pharisee makes it clear to God who he is from what he is not (greedy, dishonest, and adulterous) like the rest of humanity. Thus, he not only deems himself righteous but also judges others as sinners. Fourthly, he finds an immediate comparison and example in the tax collector who stands hesitantly behind him. Then he gives an account of whatever he considers as good and thus demonstrates his worth. In sum, it does not appear that the Pharisee went to the temple to pray but to ‘remind’ God of his righteousness, duly expecting in turn that God acknowledge it. By his self-righteous attitude, self-obsessed presentation (the use of ‘I’ four times), and self-praising prayer, the Pharisee ousts even God from his prayer. 

In total contrast to the Pharisee’s haughtiness, the tax collector’s disposition signals his unworthiness and humility in God’s presence. By standing far off and not daring to raise his eyes, he pays respect to God’s greatness. Without feeling the need to give an account of himself, he acknowledges God’s omniscience. Above all, there is no feeling of self-sufficiency in him, and he shows no intention of demonstrating it.

We find Jesus’ mastery of storytelling in the way he concludes the parable. We gain wonderful insights from Jesus’ teaching. The one who thought he was close to God was in fact far off from God, and the one who stood far away from God drew closer to him. Secondly, the Pharisee presumed that he prayed. But Jesus says that he ‘spoke the prayer to himself.’ Hence, unlike the tax collector, who beat his ‘breast and prayed,’ the Pharisee only indulged in self-talk in the temple area. Finally, the self-righteous demeanor of the Pharisee alienates and eliminates God from prayer. But the tax collector, who did not think he was praying to God, built a beautiful relationship with God.

By giving us this parable, Jesus invites us to learn from the tax collector that humility before God keeps us humble before humans too. As the Psalmist prays, ‘The Lord hears the cry of the poor.’ Here, the word ‘poor’ refers to those who are spiritually humble too. 

The readings of the day invite us to reflect on the following insights. 

1.God looks into our hearts (1 Sam 16:7), and only God can do so. Hence, we must examine our intentions and dispositions to keep our internal forum sacred, holy, and genuine.

2. Real self-assessment leads to utter humility. In the second reading, Paul talks of his journey, mission, and accomplishments. Nevertheless, the difference between Paul in the second reading and the Pharisee in the Gospel is that, unlike the Pharisee, Paul’s honest evaluation of himself leads him to surrender to God. Though Paul makes a confession of whatever he accomplished, he does not lean on them. Instead, he leans on God. Unlike pride and arrogance, which are cancers of the soul, humility helps us reach God. This is why we believe that it is easy for the humble to find the Lord. 

3. Since we are all vulnerable, only God is and can be our refuge. As Ben Zira describes in the first reading, the prayers of the lowly, weak, oppressed, and orphan represent all of us in one way or another, as we have all gone through such experiences, at least as mental states. Ben Zira wants us to discover the truth that human vulnerability can find its vitality only in God. When God becomes our refuge and when the presence of God shapes our lives, we become open, receptive, and loving towards our neighbors.

Prayer is an opportunity where we experience God filling the inner vacuum. The right mindset to receive God into our hearts is humility. 

Let us pray for the tax collector’s disposition to honor God in prayer. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar