30th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C
‘The tax collector beat his breast and said “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”’ The Lord presents to us today an image of two people praying in the temple. The pharisees stands in prayer, his mind focused on how loyal he is to the temple, always keeping to the rules of fasting and almsgiving twice a week. He is pleased with his outstanding level of piety and religion, oozing with pride and a sense of great security in his own uprightness.
The tax collector, who is a social outcast, and conscious of his wrongdoing humbly confesses his sinfulness and asks for God’s mercy. This humble prayer touches the tender heart of God, and he receives forgiveness.
Many of us, will be able to relate to the tax collector’s sheer state of sorrowfulness of heart. Possible that he was on his knees, unable to raise his eyes to heaven, in total shamefulness of his sins. Being desperate to receive the God’s love and mercy, he poured out his heart and soul to the Lord. How many of us, have done the same throughout the years, in total desperation, pouring out our hearts to the Lord? Knowing that God is the only person we can turn to. God is our final hope.
In the psalms we read “The lowly one called, and the Lord heard him.” In the most desperate of times, when we are at our lowest, the Lord is always there.
He is waiting at your side, knocking at the door to your heart, so, let us have the courage, to open that door and invite him in.
The words in the poem ‘Footprints in the sand’ seems appropriate:
“I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life there was only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, when I needed you the most, you would leave me. The Lord whispered, my precious child, I love you and will never leave you, when you saw only one set of footprints, it was when I was carrying you.”
In our first reading we hear that ‘The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds.” In our humbleness and total desperation, it is like pressing a red button, to turbo-boost our prayer past all other prayers, piercing through the clouds, and going straight to the altar of the Lord. In the Lord’s loving kindness, he answers our prayers immediately, giving us instant comfort and consolation through his grace. The Holy Spirit covering us in his presence, giving us peace in mind, heart and soul.
During our Mass today, when I offer up the gifts of bread and wine placed on the altar, you can also place all your troubles and concerns through prayer, and together, we will offer everything up to the Lord, to his Holy Altar in Heaven.
We are members the Body of Christ, a community who serves the Lord, as humble servants. May we lose our pridefulness that eats away at the core of our heart.
May we empty ourselves of all pride, so that, we can rely solely upon the Lord Jesus, who guides our daily thoughts.
Prayer comes from a sincere and humble heart. If we want it to be heard, let us imitate the tax collector’s humbleness, during our next recitation of the penitential prayer of the ‘I confess’ remembering to beat our breasts at the words, “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault,” and the Lord will hear you and give you mercy through his loving kindness.
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