30TH SUNDAY, YEAR C: REFLECTION BY FR. JULIAN EKEH
THEME: JESUS AND THE BETTER-THAN-THOU PEOPLE
(Luke 18:9-14)
The emphasis of Jesus today is about those
who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others on
account of that. With the story of the pharisee and the tax collector at
prayers He demonstrated the attitude of the better-than-thou people, the ITKs
(I too know) as they are commonly called by Nigerians. Jesus condemned the evil
tendency in them to relegate others and make even their humanity not to count.
There is an observation in what Jesus said about the pharisees that is
insightful, namely their talking to themselves. In their talking to themselves,
they think less of God and talk down on others. Themselves is all that matters.
The pharisee talked about himself using the personal pronoun 'I' up to six
times in not more than two sentences. That goes a long way to talk about his
self-centredness and egocentric behaviour. All He thinks of is the I me and
myself. Is such a life inspired by the Gospel?
INSIGHTS
FROM THE GOSPEL
UNHEALTHY COMPARISON
The two men in the parable of Jesus today
actually went to pray. But the pharisee forgot who should be prayed to and was
busy talking to himself. What a shift of attention! Are there times we forget
our life objectives? When the student in university stops the academic pursuit
that took her to the university and gives in much time to beautification and
less to her academic qualification to be like the happening people in the
campus? Is this necessary?
When one gets a job and looks down on those
who are jobless as nonentities, he is making a negative and destructive
comparison. When one who has married
sees the unmarried as cursed, he or she is guilty of unhealthy comparison. When
the rich man looks down on the poor, he is creating an unnecessary barrier
which Jesus has come to dismantle.
When one disadvantages some people on the
grounds of tribe, colour or race then Jesus will never smile at such.
BETTER THAN THOU MENTALITY
As the pharisee talked to and with himself,
he thanked God for one thing: that he is not like the tax collector. His
happiness was that he is better. Such are the people among us whose happiness
is that every good thing comes from their houses. Their joy is that their
children go to good schools while the children of others are dropouts. Their
reason to be glad is that when they come to a meeting, they're only ones
talking. They thank God that other students fail while they pass well and
remain on top. In the Church, they are happy that only their own voices are
heard, they are the only ones that have the type of anointing that breaks the
yoke.
Jesus proposes real self-acceptance that is
to say someone opening himself to God and living in humility even of his
shortcomings.
JUDGEMENTAL LIFE OF THE PHARISEE
As they talked less about God, nor consider
what God really require from them, they write off their fellow human beings and
even consider them non-existent for one or two things they have to show. But
their poor judgment will not allow them to be objective enough to reach the
level beyond human eye. That is where God's interest lies. They do not see that
their prayer life is crippled but they see those who shouldn't come to the
Church. Their eyes are closed to their
own sins but they see the ills of others clearly and condemn them with ease.
They humiliate others and lift themselves up.
FROM WHERE COMES THE EXALTATION?
The fulfilment as Jesus calls it lies in
one humbling himself. When you become aware of your nothingness God does
something great with and about you. You can never live a fulfilled life without
telling yourself the truth about yourself.
There are truths about you which no one but you and your God know about.
Every glory comes from God. God keeps calm and watches. One he exalted the
other was not. One goes fulfilled while the other leaves empty. The pharisee
gave himself his own brand of exaltation and lost the fulfilment which only God
can give.
What do you actually want? To exalt
yourself or to be exalted by God?
May God bless His word in our hearts.
LET US PRAY
Oh Lord our God, thank You for Your word
today. Help us to live fulfilled after our encounter with You and our
neighbours, may we not claim to be righteous but ever draw our righteousness
from You. May we be healed from our self-centeredness and live godly in love
for our fellow human beings through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Happy Sunday (30th Sunday, Ordinary Time,
Yr. C)
Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh
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