Worship, solidarity

Today’s readings: Ecclesiasticus 35, 12-14.16-19; 2 Timothy 4, 6-8. 16-18; Luke 18, 9-14.

It is sometimes hard in our world to repeat the words ‘Blessed are the poor’, which are emblematic in the Scriptures. In daily experience there is indeed solidarity, but it is pale compared with the way things actually are and continue to be.

Ultimately, for many millions of people, this is a cruel society. And even if we are optimistic, reality still screams at us. The wealth-civilisation from time to time repeats cliches, but deprivation of life still goes hand in hand with the head-on pursuit of success and affluence.

The God whom the Scriptures reveal to us is a God who listens, who hears the cries of his people in Egypt, who never ignores the supplication of those injured or suffering, as we read today from Ecclesiasticus. We used to hear more frequently talk about the preferential option for the poor or that God has a soft spot for the poor and marginalised.

Perhaps in the West this was similar euphoria in the times after the Council. As Church we now seem to have much more on our plate to be concerned about. In spite of what we say about the preferential option of the poor and in spite of the fact that this is one of the big truths of Christianity, we are becoming more inward looking in our way of practising faith.

Today’s readings call on us all, individually and collectively, to re-examine our way of perceiving Christian life. It is a double wake-up call, because poverty is both a reality which dehumanises a big portion of humanity, and a basic attitude of Chritian living. Gustavo Gutierrez, the father of Latin American theology of liberation, says “there are many faces to poverty: economic, racial, gender, cultural. Poverty means all of this, and is more than a mere economic issue.”

Indeed, in today’s readings from Ecclesiasticus and Luke, the poor are not only persons without money; the poor are also the injured party, the orphan, the widow, and the tax collector. Perhaps the words mostly expressive of this Sunday’s theme are in the first reading: “The humble man’s prayer pierces the clouds”.

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple is one of three parables on prayer that are found only in Luke. And it is no coincidence that it comes to us connected with the reading which speaks about the God who never ignores the supplication of the poor and afflicted.

We are never immune to falling in what is normally called ‘pharisaism’. The big difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector is that although they were both in the temple, one remained centred on himself and his achievements, while the other had God at the centre. Supposedly they are both in prayer, yet one is talking to himself about himself, the other is addressing God and is fully aware of his sinfulness and profound need of God.

As Cardinal Basil Hume one wrote, “No man can boast and be able to say: I have never committed adultery, I don’t cheat, I don’t steal, I fast. That man does not find favour with God.” The Pharisee was all wrapped up in himself and, in spite of being in God’s presence in the temple, it was too difficult for him even to turn to God.

God’s presence is never a given in life. It is basically our inner attitude that opens a window on God’s presence. While the tax collector “stood at a distance”, his humble confession of who he really was opened up his heart to be touched by the divine and to feel God’s justification.

True worship and prayer presuppose honesty. In turn, they unveil to us needs and desires we never realised, far deeper than our wants. They make us less selfish and open our eyes to the wants of others, letting God be at the centre and teaching us true solidarity.