In a little town outside of Dublin, Ireland, O’Toole found a messy plot of land. He spent weeks cleaning out the debris, racking & fertilizing the soil. Then he planted flowers and carefully watered them. After a few months, his garden was a beauty. One day as he was admiring his garden, Fr. O’Reilly walked past & said to him, “What a fine garden you & the Lord have made.” O’Toole said, “Father you should have seen it when the Lord had it on His own!”
Now we might think that O’Toole committed the sin of pride, and he may well have, but it is our sins pride we want to own up to today. The Lord doesn’t make messes, but He helps clean them up after we make them, and our sins of pride make a lot of messes. You and I are called by Jesus – to listen to HIS WORD and allow HIS WORD to guide our lives.
The Greek play write Sophocles in Antigone wrote, “All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong & repairs the evil, the only sin is pride.” C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity said pride is “The Great Sin.”
Throughout human history the Sin of Pride and Self-Conceit has flourished, and the virtue of Humility has lagged behind. The reading from Sirach tells us “The Lord is a God of justice, who knows no favorites…. & the Lord will not delay.” St. Paul wrote that he has “finished the race … kept the faith.”
We need to remember that the race of Faith in our life is not a sprint but a marathon. We need to Trust God and be faithful and persistent in doing God’s Will for the pure love of God.
Reflect on this insight on prayer. “The Gate of Heaven is so low that to get in one must be on their knees; especially the knees’ of our heart & our will.” Disney offers us Gaston & Belle in The Beauty and the Beast and the Evil Queen and Snow White as examples of pride and humility.
However this morning I will refer to the play Les Mis, which gives us three characters who can help us obtain insight into today’s Gospel. Javert the self-righteous, law enforcing policeman who lacks even a modicum of mercy. Jean Valjean who reminds us of the tax collector in today’s Gospel, who acknowledges his own sinfulness.
He offers mercy and forgiveness to Javert who is unable to accept the gifts offered to him. And finally, Marius who offers us this insight on prayer, “These are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees.” PRAYER is the best means of strengthening our relationship with Jesus Christ. Today let’s join with Jean Valjean who prayed in song:
“God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need You have always been there.”
The Gospel is not about “punishment or condemnation” but, a call to deeper “conversion.” It calls us to bend our hearts, our wills & our souls to God’s. Spend some time thinking about, “Do I seek only the gifts of God OR am I truly seeking God Himself?
May God Be Praised.
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