Two final teachings from Jesus on prayer 

This Sunday’s Gospel offers another parable about prayer. Each of this Sunday’s readings suggests that God hears anyone who cries out, especially the brokenhearted. As the Gospel narrative nears the end of Jesus’ journey to and entry into Jerusalem, it provides some of the more memorable teachings that Jesus offers to his disciples. These are the last teachings before Jesus’ passion and ones that address some of the most fundamental aspects of discipleship, especially the need to maintain a posture of humility before the Father.

This Sunday’s first reading, from the book of Sirach, opens with the notion that God knows no favorites (Sir 35:15). Yet, it must be admitted that God does, in fact, show some preference to the concerns of the overburdened when they cry out. “Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed” (35:16). This Sunday’s first reading recalls explicitly the wail of the orphan and the complaint of the widow. This fits closely with Luke’s parable of the persistent widow from last Sunday. As a widow, she was by default a disenfranchised member of society, along with orphans and strangers. Even though her “lowly” status was obvious to others in her society, it did not exist in the mind of God for whom “the prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds” (35:18-21). 

Indeed, the refrain for this Sunday’s responsorial psalm confirms this belief: “The Lord hears the cry of the poor” (Ps 34:7). This Sunday’s Gospel parable compares two men at prayer, the Pharisee and the tax collector, while placing the moral emphasis on humility. When the tax collector prays for mercy and simultaneously acknowledges himself as a sinner, Jesus praises that man’s prayer as an exceptional example of self-awareness. In addition, the tax collector’s self-effacement stands out as the antidote to the Pharisee’s prayer when he says, “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector” (Lk 18:11). The Pharisee appears to ignore God altogether, praying “to himself,” more concerned with judging himself by his own standard. This stands in striking contrast to the tax collector who dares not even raise his head toward the direction of heaven. The Pharisee stands in the same light as the dishonest judge from the parable that preceded this Sunday’s Gospel passage. Neither fear God; they only have enough space for their own self-image. 

Meanwhile, the tax collector quietly practices humility before the Creator. Jesus suggests that we all become more like the latter example. “The one who humbles himself,” says the Gospel, “will be exalted” (Lk 18:14). Our unlikely hero, the person who held a reputation for extortion, became representative of humanity in a positive light, an example for people encouraged to walk humbly and rejoice in God’s unmerited mercy. “O God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Lk 18:13). The tax collector was teaching all to pray in a just manner before God. 

All of these teachings are presented strategically at this place in the Gospel of Luke. Very soon, Jesus will arrive in Jerusalem and will perform his final act of humility, facing a public execution on a cross, the most shameful way to die. The words of St. Paul in this Sunday’s second reading come to mind. “I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith” (2 Tm 4:6). St. Paul summarizes well the need for humility in discipleship and prayer. Not only does humility place us in a correct relationship with God, but by living humbly, we also follow Jesus’ example. Even when humility leads to the cross, it opens our hearts like a cup for God to fill.