30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel Bullet Points (Luke 18:9-14) Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

• Two contrasting characters are presented in the parable:

1. The Pharisee: He arrogantly thanks God for what he considers his virtues. The Pharisee approaches God in prayer, seeking the rewards he believes he deserves. He was not praying. He was advertising himself for the good things that he has done.

2. The Tax collector: He knows that he is nothing in the presence of God. He comes to the temple, not even daring to look up, and begs for mercy because he knows that he is not perfect.

• The parable is directed to people who are enormously proud of their own “holiness”—the self-righteous who look down on others who seem to be less “holy” than they and who are even considered sinners.

• The essence of self-righteousness is SCORNING others and holding everyone in CONTEMPT. Look at what the Pharisee said: “I am not like other men— greedy, deceitful, and adulterous—like this tax collector.”

• No one has the right to judge others. Certainly, virtue and vice reside within a person. Only God sees what goes on inside a person. All we can see is the outside. And because of this, WE HAVE NO RIGHT AT ALL TO PASS JUDGMENT ON ANYBODY.

• Take note that of the two, the one who went home from the temple justified was not the self-righteous Pharisee but the humble tax collector.