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Posted by on Oct 26, 2025

I Thank You That I Am Not Like The Rest Of Humanity

I Thank You That I Am Not Like The Rest Of Humanity

“I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity…” These words in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector are striking. What came next? “I am a great sinner?” “I am a person who is always looking for answers?” “I am able to foretell the future with absolute accuracy?” “I always try to help everyone I meet?”

I think at one time or another, many of us have probably said something similar. “I grew up in a good family.” “I go to church every Sunday.” “I never miss a Holy Day of Obligation.” “I try to help others when I can.” “I contribute to good causes.” “I’m a good worker.” “I support my family.”

Many of us, including myself, have said things like, “I know how to make my own clothes,” or “We learned how to make soap when we were kids,” or “Buying in bulk really makes money go farther.” We set ourselves up as somehow superior in comparison to others we meet along the journey of life, even those in our own neighborhoods or country. Unless and until we experience the reality of having less income than needed to cover basic expenses, we don’t comprehend that middle class solutions don’t necessarily work when income doesn’t cover the basics. Having 12 cans of tomatoes bought in bulk doesn’t particularly help when there’s nothing else to cook along with a can of tomatoes. Knowing how to make noodles doesn’t help when there’s no way to get an egg and flour to start with. The help received in those situations, often from others who also lack the luxury of having any surplus, is truly treasured.

The Pharisee went on to explain his thinking, noting that he is not “greedy, dishonest, adulterous” or even like the tax collector he sees nearby. The Pharisee notes that he fasts twice a week and pays tithes on his entire income, not just on parts of it. He’s pretty proud of himself.

St. Luke tells us that the Pharisee “spoke this prayer to himself.” It’s an interesting phrase. Was he simply speaking quietly rather than speaking aloud or so others around would hear, or was he literally speaking to himself rather than to God?

Jesus went on to tell of the tax collector, one of the most despised members of the community. Tax collectors had to collect a certain minimum amount of tax to submit to the government in Rome. Beyond that basic minimum, they were allowed to keep whatever extra they could get out of people, their own neighbors in the community. People thought of them as the scum of the earth. Traitors to all in the region.

The tax collector stood apart from others. He knew he was not welcome. He didn’t presume to claim innocence or even assume he would be pardoned, He looked down humbly at the ground in front of him, “beat his breast and prayed, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

A simple prayer and totally heartfelt. Jesus praised this prayer. “I tell you, the latter went home justified.” The Pharisee did not. Why not? “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk 18):9-14

Humility is not a loud declaration of unworthiness proclaimed with the hope others will reassure the speaker that they are indeed worthy of praise and respect. Humility is the quiet recognition that in some actions, the individual has truly done wrong and is sorry for having done so. To be humbled is to have that reality made clear through the words and actions of others. Those who have admitted their misdeeds and asked forgiveness, can be exalted through the forgiveness they receive.

A wise man named Sirach lived around 200 years before the coming of Jesus. He wrote down and shared his reflections on community, faith, families, friendships, education, wealth and poverty, worship, and many other topics of importance to both ancient and modern communities. Sirach wrote in Hebrew and his words were translated into Greek by his grandson sometime after 132 BCE.

Sirach stated clearly and firmly, “The Lord is a God of justice, who knows no favorites.” This is important. All people matter to the Lord – rich and poor alike. Yet Sirach notes, “Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed.” Those who have no social status or protection are heard by the Lord. Widows, orphans, those whose needs and rights are discounted by folks on the margins – the calls for help from all of them are heard. Their cries pierce the clouds of heaven, like an arrow that flies straight to its goal. They do not rest until the Most High hears and responds, affirming what is right and just for the poor and lowly. (Sir 35:12-14, 16-18)

The tax collector would find this both disconcerting and strangely comforting, I suspect. Given the reality that he regularly was expected to cheat his neighbors in order to support himself and probably lived a more lavish lifestyle himself, it would be disconcerting. He knew the Lord would hear the cries of those who were cheated. Yet, he hoped in the mercy of the Lord for himself as well. Would it be possible to serve as a tax collector and still be an honest person? Or what would next steps be for him? Both questions remain unanswered in the Gospel, but we might want to consider them for ourselves.

The reality of the Lord’s attention to the cries of the poor, however, is not in doubt in both Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. The Psalmist sings of it regularly. Psalm 34 is an example of this. “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise ever in my mouth.” “When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them.” “The Lord redeems the lives of his servants; no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.” The cries of the poor and the oppressed always reach the Lord. (Ps 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23)

Does this mean everything turns out fine if we just have faith – money and respect will come, healing of illness, jobs and happy family life? Wouldn’t that be lovely? But would we really appreciate these gifts? We might well get to thinking that it all happened because we worked hard and did it all ourselves, followed by, “If we/I can do it, so can they …” Easy then to say, “I thank you that I am not like the rest…”

The life of St. Paul shows us differently. A tent maker, citizen of Rome, born in Tarsus, became a scholar of the Law, a Pharisee. He approved of the condemnation of some of the earliest followers of Jesus, including the first martyr, Stephen. By God’s grace, he met the risen Jesus as he was traveling to Damascus to arrest more of those heretics, the Christians. Called by Jesus personally, he became the Apostle to the Gentiles, traveling many miles by foot for many years, sharing the Good News of the coming of the Christ and of salvation for all peoples – Jews and Gentiles alike.

Eventually, he was arrested and exercised his right as a Roman citizen to be tried in Rome. In his second letter to Timothy, a young man he met in his travels who shared in his ministry, he speaks of the approach of the end of his life. His trial did not go well. He knows he will be condemned. But he speaks words of hope and conviction. “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” No one spoke on his behalf during his trial. Some friends deserted him. “But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.”

Paul rejoiced that he had been given the opportunity to speak and witness to the risen Lord. He proclaimed confidently, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom.” He concludes in words we share, “To him be glory forever and ever.” (2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18)

“I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity…” or “Have mercy on me a sinner.”

Which will be our approach this week and through the days and weeks to follow? How will we live as children of a just God, who hears the cry of the poor? How will we “see” the needs of those around us? How will we respond?

May we remember that all we have is a gift. We haven’t gotten where we are by ourselves. Our families, our friends, other people we have never met and will never meet. All have given of themselves to make the society in which we live, with the advantages we enjoy.

Now it’s our turn to pass it on. Our turn to reach out with a smile, a helping hand, a kind word, a listening ear, a decision to forgive, a choice not to judge.

May we bless the Lord at all times, remembering that we are not above all others in holiness, nor are we loved more than others by the Lord. We are all loved and together we share this love with all we meet, sharing together on the Lord’s team to care for the poor and the oppressed whose cries are heard by the Lord.

Readings for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C

 

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Posted by on Oct 23, 2022

Hearing the Cry of the Oppressed

Hearing the Cry of the Oppressed

There is an old apocryphal story about a man who went to work one day and was treated harshly by his employer. The mistreatment was totally unwarranted and he rightly felt upset, angry, and short-tempered. When he returned home, he was still feeling very upset.

Something his wife said upset him further. It wasn’t anything aimed at him. He actually misunderstood what she was trying to tell him, because he was feeling so angry and hurt by what had happened earlier. So he yelled at his wife and accused her of incompetence in her homemaking and love for him because dinner was not ready when he arrived. The poor woman was justifiably upset by all of this. It was totally unexpected and unwarranted.

As she tried to refocus and get back to dinner preparations for the family, their child burst through the door, knocking over the water jug that was ready to be carried outside to water the plants. (Shall we say this was all taking place during a drought in California?) The water spilled over the floor and carpet. She was now going to have to pause the dinner preparations to get the mess cleaned up. This on top of her husband’s anger that dinner was going to be a few minutes late… She shouted angrily at the child for knocking over the water.

The child was stunned. The rapid entrance had been prompted by the excitement of seeing a beautiful bird in the yard and hurry to share this delight with Mom! Now it was all spoiled. The child felt stupid for knocking over the jug and unloved because of having done something clumsy.

The child retreated back outside where the dog was happily waiting to play. Instead of picking up the ball dropped at his feet by the dog, the child kicked the dog out of his way as he raced to his special calm-down hideaway.

All this upset resulted from the harsh treatment received at work from the hands of one person. The boss yelled at Dad and the dog got kicked, with lots of relationships harmed along the way.

Now, I hope nothing like this has ever happened to you. But I know that there have been times in my life when I was upset about something and passed that upset on to innocent people around me. What can be done to heal the harm done? Sometimes it’s possible to apologize or to catch and hold the child close letting them know how loved they are and how unfairly they have just been treated. But other times, the opportunity to apologize never comes. The person who was hurt never comes around again, to avoid the chance it will happen another time. Or the person moves or dies and the opportunity is lost.

I thought of this story as I read a commentary on Jesus’ story of the two men who went up to the temple to pray. (Lk 18:9-14) The first of the men was a religious leader and was proud of all his efforts and success in following the laws and traditions of his community. “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity …” Luke includes a brief statement just before this quotation, telling us that the man “spoke this prayer to himself.” That little phrase, “to himself,” offers two possible meanings: 1) He spoke in a quiet voice, without the intention that anyone else would hear his words, or 2) he spoke these words in essence as a prayer to himself, rather than to God. Neither option is exactly praiseworthy, though the first is better than the second.

The other man was a tax collector. Tax collectors were not honest, respectable people who only insisted that people pay what they rightly owed to support their local community and the services they received as taxpayers – police, fire protection, schools, etc. In those times, tax collectors had a quota of money they had to collect from their fellow citizens to send to those at higher levels of government. Anything they collected above and beyond that base, they got to keep for themselves. The same was true at each level up the hierarchy, all the way to the Roman Emperor’s court! Everyday ordinary folks paid far higher taxes than what the Emperor demanded of them in tribute.

The tax collector stood off to the side, beating his breast and praying, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” The term he used for merciful was not the one that we usually see translated as merciful. There is another word in Greek that means, to expiate or make atonement for what has been done by someone. This man recognized that he had done great harm in his life, harm which he would never be able to repair. Lives and hopes of ordinary people had been damaged or destroyed by his actions in ways he could never, ever undo. Only God can begin to repair the harm, and this is what he requested.

Jesus concluded, only the tax collector went home justified, on good terms with God. The tax collector recognized the cries of the oppressed that had arisen due to his actions. He begged and received forgiveness and he “went home justified.”

Sirach, a teacher of wisdom who wrote between 200 and 175 BCE, lived in Jerusalem. His actual name was Jesus, Son of Eleazar, son of Sirach, but the text’s original title appears to have been, Wisdom of the Son of Sirach. This title was later shortened to The Book of Sirach. Sirach includes many insights into how people should live with each other and with God, as well as praise of many of the great ancestors of Israel.

This wise teacher speaks of God’s justice and attentiveness to the cries of the oppressed (Sir 35:12-14, 16-18). He notes that the Lord does not play favorites. It doesn’t matter whether the person asking for help is rich or poor, well-born or from the lowest social class. The Lord hears all people’s voices and does not unduly favor anyone. Nevertheless, the Lord is neither deaf nor charmed by the social prestige of the petitioner. The one whose prayers are heard is the one who serves God willingly. The widow, the orphan, the oppressed are all heard. Their cries travel like arrows piercing the clouds and reaching to the ears of the Most High. The Lord “judges justly and affirms the right.”

The Lord hears the just when they cry out “and from all their distress he rescues them,” says the Psalmist (Ps 34)

As St. Paul neared his execution, he reflected on the life he had led since that fateful day when he met the Risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. (2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18) He speaks of his life as if it were a drink from a sacrificial ritual that would be poured out as part of the prayer at the end of the ritual. The sacrifice he has offered has been his life of faithful witness to what he learned. He has kept the faith that was entrusted to him and passed it on to all who were open to receive it. He does not blame those who didn’t turn up to serve as witnesses on his behalf during his trial. Rather, he asks the Lord to forgive them and gives thanks that he had a chance once again to witness to the resurrection before one more group of people who might not ever have heard the good news otherwise. His shepherd, Jesus, rescued him from “the lion’s mouth” of fear that might have held him back from testifying to what he had experienced. The Lord has been faithful in the past and Paul believes and trusts that His faithfulness will never fail.

Our daily lives bring many surprises. Some are wonderful. Some are awful. Sometimes we start the chain of events that lead to the poor dog getting kicked. Sometimes we are a part of the chain along the way to the poor dog. Sometimes we might even be in the position of that unfortunate animal. But like the tax collector, we can count on the Lord to help make things right again. The Lord hears the cries of all, without favoring any because of social status or ability to make contributions for beautiful monuments or other displays. He is present with those who are least able to protect themselves. He chases after the “lion” to snatch the “lamb” from its jaws, as King David boasted he had literally done as a shepherd boy.

Let us pray today that we too will have the courage to ask for the Lord’s help in difficult times, as well as when things seem to be going well. We need help in either situation, so that when ultimately we approach the Lord, we can have the courage to recognize our failings and ask his help to straighten up the messes we’ve made and heal the hurts we’ve inflicted on others. And if we are the one who has been hurt, we also pray for healing rather than vengeance or passing on injury to others. The poor dog in the story needs a break!

Readings for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C

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