March 9th Lenten Reflection

Luke 18:9–14

Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

Reflection by Anna Venenga

A pit that I have often found myself falling into early on in my faith and one that I still find myself falling into is a pit of confusion. This pit is labeled with a huge sign before it, saying “God’s Book of Tallies.” When reading the assigned scripture for today, I am reminded of the idea and image I can see clearly of God sitting on a cloud in heaven with a huge book that has a tally of every single good or bad thing that all humans have committed. It makes me think of coming home overjoyed to tell my parents that I received a good grade on a spelling test in 2nd grade, hoping that they would praise me for my efforts. The Pharisee, falling into legalistic thought, finds pride and glory in the fact that he visited the temple and gave a tithe. What he did not understand is that God is indifferent to the lists of good things we keep for ourselves. Instead, God wants to see humble devotion. Of course, God wants us to do good things for the Kingdom, but those good things should be led by God as we are God’s hands and feet here. We should not feel the need to boast about the tasks God places on our plates. What we must remember is that God wants to see us reunite with Him, no matter how many good or bad things we did in the past days, weeks, months, or years. God is always here to love us and just wants to continue loving us. That is if we decide that we want to feel His loving embrace again.