Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
When I wake up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror, what do I see?
According to today’s Gospel, there are two possibilities. Either I can see a Pharisee or I can see a tax collector (someone known in Jesus’ time as a notorious sinner).
If I see a Pharisee, I say to myself, “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity – greedy, dishonest, and adulterous – or even like this tax collector. I have been a Benedictine monk for 60-plus years; I was elected abbot of the community; then I was chosen by the Pope to be a bishop; I did fairly well for more than 25 years. Now I’m doing a good job as a gardener providing a lot of veggies for other people.”
Yes, looking into the mirror, I can see a pretty good Pharisee. Thank God, I am not like all those notorious sinners.
In contrast, may it please God that I do not see such a Pharisee. Instead, hopefully, I see a sinner. Hopefully, I stand off at a distance. I do not even raise my eyes to heaven. I beat my breast and say, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”
A humble, sinful person is what I should see in the mirror. I should pray, as a Cardinal prayed at the beginning of the 20th century. (This is also the favorite prayer of a current justice in the Supreme Court.)
Reflection by Archbishop Jerome Hanus, OSB
The Litany of Humility composed by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930)
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved…
From the desire of being extolled …
From the desire of being honored …
From the desire of being praised …
From the desire of being preferred to others…
From the desire of being consulted …
From the desire of being approved …
From the fear of being humiliated …
From the fear of being despised…
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
From the fear of being forgotten …
From the fear of being ridiculed …
From the fear of being wronged …
From the fear of being suspected …
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I …
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease …
That others may be chosen and I set aside …
That others may be praised and I unnoticed …
That others may be preferred to me in everything…
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections