Today’s gospel parable seems like a classic case of the the “good guy” vs. “the bad guy.” Jesus definitely seems to set it up with the Pharisee as an example of “what not to do.” Yet, there are some things that I think the Pharisee gets right. There are even some ways that perhaps the tax collector also gets some things wrong.
One thing the Pharisee gets right is that he is in fact special. The children of Israel were set apart by God deliberately as his chosen people. The law that God revealed was an incredible gift. The Pharisee would have grown up loving this law and desiring to follow it. All this is good and noble. The problem comes in when the Pharisee begins to see himself in isolation from God’s plan for his “people.” It’s not that the Pharisee himself is so incredible special, but that he has a special mission as a part of God’s chosen people. Israel was supposed to be holy and set apart so that they might draw others to God. Instead, this Pharisee has been drawn into himself.
For us as Catholics, we need to make sure that we don’t fall into society’s trap of thinking that our faith is not special, that it’s just “one among many.” The Catholic Church, founded by Jesus, is the fulfillment of what God began in Israel. We are chosen. We are special. The Church Jesus founded has everything that God intended his Church to have. Only the Catholic Church has this. To say anything less would be to say that God came in the flesh in Jesus, he died for us, left us the sacraments, and told us that there is no way to the Father except through him… but it really doesn’t matter. Believe whatever you want and probably everyone goes to heaven. That’s silly. Either the Catholic Church is what she claims to be, or there is no God. It’s a big deal.
Now, lest we make the mistake of the Pharisee, let’s be clear that each of us individually may not be doing so well as a member of God’s holy and special people. This is what the tax collector gets right. He knows he’s a sinner and in desperate need of God’s mercy. This should be our fundamental stance before God every day. “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” But here’s where perhaps the tax collector goes wrong, and perhaps we could too. God doesn’t mean for the tax collector to stay stuck in back with his head bowed in shame. God wants to meet him there, but then move him forward. If we think that we can just say “Woe is me, I’m a sinner,” and stay where we’re at, then we greatly misunderstand God’s plan for us.
Most of us are probably somewhere in between these two extreme. We’re still on the road. As St. Paul puts it in the second reading, we’re still running “the race.” It’s time then that we accept that this life is a race and that we keep going. There’s no partial credit for getting almost to the finish line. Let’s resolve today to give in neither to presumption or despair. Let’s compete well, run the race to the finish… let’s keep the faith.