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Gospel Reading for October 26, 2025 – Luke 18: 9-14
UTTER FOLLY
Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
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It is UTTER FOLLY to think we are pure and look down on others who we think are impure just because they are unlike us in our practice of religion. Religious rituals, duties or sacrifices are meant to enhance our faith experience, and Religion cannot be used to prove that we are better than others. It even obliges us to remain humble and always seek the loving mercy of God because we acknowledge that we are always in need of his forgiveness and we are always in need of sustenance from him.
In Matthew 9: 13, Jesus says, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” If we believe we are sinless, then we do not need Jesus because he is the Saviour. So, unless we accept that we too are sinners and are in need of salvation, how can we be saved?
Lord, help us practice religion humbly and sincerely!
