Gospel: Gospel: Luke 18: 9-14

 

Jesus, in order to teach us to pray, tells the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Jesus has a different way of seeing things. He saw something positive in the tax collector, of whom everybody said, “He does not know how to pray!” Jesus, through prayer, lived so united to the Father that everything became an expression of prayer for Him.

 

The way of presenting the parable is very didactic. Luke gives a brief introduction which serves as the key for reading. Then Jesus tells the parable and at the end Jesus Himself applies the parable to life.

 

The parable is introduced in this way: “He spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves… This statement refers to the time of Jesus, but it also refers to our own time. There are always people and groups of people who consider themselves upright and faithful and who despise others, considering them ignorant and unfaithful.

 

According to popular opinion at that time, the tax collectors were not esteemed at all, and they could not address themselves to God because they were impure. Jesus turns all things upside down. 

To do the will of the Father was the breathing of His life. Jesus prayed very much and insisted that people and His disciples do the same, because from union with God springs truth, and the person is able to discover and find self, in all reality and humility.