Father Thomas Welbers' Homily

It is clear at the beginning of this Gospel reading just exactly to whom Jesus was speaking when he told this little story: “Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” Hmmmm . . . we’re seeing a lot of that these days, aren’t we? The problem, of course, it that we see it in everyone else. But do we see it when we look in our own mirror?

The scandalous thing about Jesus’ story is that the Pharisee truly was the good guy, and the tax collector truly was the bad guy. Everything the Pharisee said was true. But notice that his prayer of thanksgiving wasn’t really thanks at all, but boasting how good he was, and how rotten everyone else was. And he wanted to make sure that God saw that!

The tax collector also told the truth. He was a man locked in sin by his profession – as an agent of the oppressive and hated Roman domination of Israel at that time, he was hated and despised by everyone. But, unlike the Pharisee, he knew his true powerlessness before God, and prayed accordingly.

Time after time, if we listen to Jesus in the Gospels, he assures us that only sinners will be saved – that is, only those who recognize our sinful condition can let God in to do what God wants to forgive – forgive, heal, and transform. If we are filled with ourselves, there’s no room for God.

This is an important message as we approach the coming elections just over a week away. The teaching of the church is clear on many important social issues, and the moral dimension of these issues cannot be separated from the common good of our society. We as Catholic people are bearers of the truth of God’s word in our society. We can’t let ourselves be deterred by misunderstanding and opposition, and we have to take every opportunity to get informed, especially about issues central to human life.

But that is a task that can be successful only in a spirit of humility. The success of God’s word taking root in our world depends not so much on our skill and our efforts as it does on the work of God. Convincing others is not really our project, we can leave that up to God to do in his way – it is he who humbles the proud and exalts the lowly. Faithfulness and perseverance, not success, are what is asked of us. Can we be humble enough to be faithful in upholding the truth and compassion of God’s word and work in our world, and at the same time let go of our need to see outward signs of success, trusting that God has the power to accomplish his work in his own way?

© 2004 Thomas Welbers