Homily

We're told in today's Gospel that the Tax-Collector who bowed his head in shame and repentance before God, asking for mercy and pardon AND he left the Temple justified. The Pharisee who told God all the good he had done and all the evil he had avoided but he DID NOT go home justified. We are not told how they felt when they left the Temple, but I'm kind of thinking that the Pharisee felt pretty good about himself, the same as he did when he was walking to the Temple. The Tax-Collector probably felt better on his way home not about himself, but because he had called on the mercy of the Lord. He made contact with the source of mercy. But I certainly don't think he went away feeling justified, which the dictionary describes as being free from blame, guiltless, acquitted, absolved. Yet he was justified even if he didn't "feel" it, because God had freed him, taken away his guilt, acquitted him of any wrongdoing, and absolved his sins. The Pharisee felt justified and that was all that mattered to him. He got what he wanted. The Publican, however, got what he needed.

It is clear that the Tax-Collector was aware of his sins, and they might even have been some of the sins the Pharisee mentioned in his prayer. He's aware of them, and, not caring how he looks to anyone else, he takes the posture of a penitent, beating his breast, and repeatedly calling upon the forgiveness of God in His mercy. I tend to think he was doing this not because he wanted to feel better, but because he wanted to be better; to be a better man. And I think he called on God in this simple but effective way because he wanted to live in a closer relationship with the Lord. The Pharisee saw God as a member of his audience, while the Publican would not even raise his eyes while begging for pardon. As I said, I doubt he felt justified. Instead, he simply relied on the mercy of the Lord.

In a certain sense, there are many people today who are quite different than either of these two men in their judgment of their consciences. It's easy to see that many people can be self-righteous. But there is a third element that can be even more relevant to the situation today, and quite different than the understanding of either man in the Gospel parable.

At least those two men knew what sin was, and they recognized that God had given them the Law to teach them what was good and what was evil, and as a guide for life. Neither the Publican nor the Pharisee would think they could judge for themselves what was right or wrong. The Pharisee might have argued that he did not actually break certain commandments, and give his explanation for that, but it would not occur to him to even think that the commandment was invalid because he disagreed with it. Both men believed the Law was given by God for their instruction and guidance. Neither man thought the Law was there waiting for their personal approval before they would accept it.

This is a newer way of looking at the Law of Christ in these days, when people do not accept the clear and consistent teaching of Christ's Church as it has been passed down to us. Instead, if they are in conflict with that Law, they claim the authority to decide for themselves whether or not it is good or bad, true or false. Formerly people might give explanations or offer excuses as to why they were breaking the law. (And you can still see that in action if you still watch the television program "COPS.") But today it is more common to simply reject the law as valid in the first place. Instead of offering explanations or excuses, one simply declares they don't accept the law, doing away not only with the need for justifying your behavior, it also releases you from the need to repent and ask for forgiveness.

Looking at our nation as a whole there's no question that the list of sins people would agree to, keeps getting shorter and shorter every year which would mean there are fewer sins to commit, right? Which should mean we are becoming more and more virtuous as a people, no? If there are fewer sins to commit as time moves along, it should only make us happier, healthier, and more secure. Previously when people did wrong, at best they could only make excuses. Now they declare that, according to their own judgment, there is no wrong here or there; there is nothing to excuse or forgive. The question of whether or not the Law of Christ is given to us as a rule for life becomes rather unimportant if I have to decide, piece by piece, whether I think it is correct or wrong, good or bad.

The worst part of this self-defined standard of moral behavior is that it puts me in the center, and Christ off to the side. If Christ is off to the side, I cannot be close to Him, I cannot draw nearer to Him. I will not ask for the mercy which He alone can give if I do not think I need mercy. I will trust in my own ability to make it through this life rather than trusting in the Lord. Christ may have some part of my life, but I will not allow Him to be my life. But truly, for many people Jesus is irrelevant. Who needs a Savior to save them when they do not sin?

And Jesus weeps. Not so much because people are breaking His law, but that in doing so they are endangering their lives and their salvation. Not so much that people do bad things, as much as they ignore the good He desires to give us. He weeps that those who were made to live in His love and happiness reject Him. We say so many times during the Liturgy, “Lord, have mercy.” Let us say it today with a renewed understanding and awareness of how much we need His mercy, and how much we need Him to be the most important person in our lives.