30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Readings For The Day

FIRST READING Sirach 35:12–14, 16-18

12 Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it;and do not trust to an unrighteous sacrifice;for the Lord is the judge,and with him is no partiality.13 He will not show partiality in the case of a poor man;and he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged.14 He will not ignore the supplication of the fatherless,nor the widow when she pours out her story.16 He whose service is pleasing to the Lord will be accepted,and his prayer will reach to the clouds.17 The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds,and he will not be consoled until it reaches the Lord;he will not desist until the Most High visits him,and the just judge executes judgment.

PSALM Psalm 34:2–3, 17–19, 23

34 [33] I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD;let the humble hear and be glad.16 The face of the LORD is against evildoers,to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears,and delivers them out of all their troubles.18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted,and saves the crushed in spirit.22 The LORD redeems the life of his servants;none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

SECOND READING 2 Timothy 4:6–8, 16-18 

For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.16 At my first defense no one took my part; all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength to proclaim the word fully, that all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION 2 Corinthians 5:19

19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

GOSPEL Luke 18:9-14 

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12  I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Initial Thoughts & Impressions

He identifies the 3 things Jesus tells us to guard against. Praying, fasting, & almsgiving for show.

His position is one of prominence and he assumes his position and prays to himself. If we pray to ourselves we make ourselves the judge as we claim to be righteous and we worship ourselves making idles of us for us.

The God of Justice knows no favorites. He looks only for a humble and contrite heart.

The poor have little to give and yet they often show great compassion for those in need giving what little they have because they understand what it means to be in need. They are also more likely to treasure God, family and other people because they have limited earthly treasure.

Likewise, a sinner is most like to grant mercy to others, because they desire mercy for themselves.

The learned & self-important are more likely to tell God how he is messing up and how to fix it. But those with faith realize that they cannot possibly understand the complexities of the Universe and so they should not presume to tell God how things should be.

He has no need for God! He has justified himself, meaning he makes himself the judge. That, however, is God’s position. If we place ourselves as God then we don’t need God! But, we do need God!

The beautiful reality of prayer! So limitless, and yet limited. Found it in the eternal but inhibited by our limitations of knowledge and understanding. Therefore, I must enter prayer in and through Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. There's nothing I can unlock with in prayer apart from Jesus, because if I try, I am listening to myself, the finite and limited person I am, and not God! In Jesus we are grounded in humility and love, the foundation of prayer.

Jesus is our source of unity with God but divides us with mankind. In deeper unity with God, we are not unified with the whims of the changing world in which we live, but in the eternal truth. The truth that defines us, and all people. A truth at odds with sinful desires and prideful determination to make a world of our choosing for our own desires.

Researched Material

Lk 18:13

Lexham Theological Wordbook ἱλάσκομαι

ἱλάσκομαι (hilaskomai). vb. to be propitiated, show mercy, make atonement. Refers to the act of making atonement or of accepting atonement (and thus, being merciful).

Mercy is the result of God being the source of justification. That God’s mercy is a gracious gift to receive, not to be assumed by me.

Catechism of the Catholic Church Prayer as God’s Gift

humility is the foundation of prayer.

A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke (R. Ginns, O.P.)

The conclusion of 14 is all the stronger from the fact that it omits formal condemnation of the Pharisee, though the word’ justified’, i.e. right with God, responds to the ‘trusted in themselves as just’ of 9.

Justification Systematic Theology Check the fact book

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