“ In our personal practices of prayer, do we show a spirit of humility? Do we come to Mass having an attitude that we’re in church not only to ask for favors from God, but, first and foremost, to show our gratitude to him that everything that we have comes from him and everything that we are is because of him?”
The words of this Sunday’s reading from the Book of Sirach (35: 16-18) present a powerful image: “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal.” The question is: “What characterize the prayer of a humble man that its power can break into the clouds to the doors of heaven?”
Jesus gives us some hints to answer this question by telling us a parable in this Sunday’s Gospel. “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.”
First, the prayer of a humble man is devoid of superiority and arrogance. It seeks communion with God and with others rather than preoccupation with oneself. It does not gloat over one’s success or blessings to the extent of not recognizing the generous actions of God in other people.
Second, the prayer of a humble man seeks goodness in people. It is a prayer for the whole humanity, especially for outcast and sinners. It is even a prayer for one’s persecutors and enemies.
Third, the prayer of the humble man is free of any jealousy. In other words, it is a prayer of gratitude not only for one’s gifts, but also for the gifts of others—their talents, their achievements, their treasures.
Fourth, the prayer of the humble reflects a genuine concern for the well-being of other people. In fact, it is extremely generous that it shows a self-sacrificial love for the one he or she endears.
When God sees this kind of prayer coming from a heart of a person, he listens with compassion and mercy.
Certainly, the prayer of the Pharisee in this Sunday’s Gospel did not show this humility. Instead, it was arrogant, self-righteous, and self-serving. It might have recognized God with the words, “O God, I thank you,” but the subsequent words of thanking that he was not like the rest of humanity would not please God because no matter how sinful other people can be, God still offers them opportunities to change. This might had been the quality that Jesus saw in tax collector: a heart that was remorse, hopeful of God’s forgiveness, and willing to change.
In our personal practices of prayer, do we show a spirit of humility? Do we come to Mass having an attitude that we’re in church not only to ask for favors from God, but, first and foremost, to show our gratitude to him that everything that we have comes from him and everything that we are is because of him?
Do we consciously, intently, and generously pray for others? Do we even pray for our enemies, for those that we dislike and those that have offended us? Do we pray for sinners, not in a spirit of condemnation but with an attitude of hope and compassion that they too deserve the mercy of God?
In the Second Reading this Sunday, St. Paul mirrors this recognition of God’s grace in our lives and concern for the salvation of others by saying, “But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all Gentiles might hear it.”
May we strive for humility in prayer that pierces the clouds of heaven!
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of ImmAaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.
