*** 1st Reading ***

 Sirach 35: 12-14, 16-18

 The Lord is judge and shows no partiality.   

He will not disadvantage the poor, he who hears the prayer of the oppressed. He does not disdain the plea of the orphan, nor the complaint of the widow.

The one who serves God whole­­­heartedly will be heard; his petition will reach the clouds.   The prayer of the humble person pierces the clouds, and he is not consoled until he has been heard.  His prayer will not cease until the Most High has looked down, until justice has been done in favor of the righteous.

 

Ps  The Lord, hears the cry of the poor.

 

*** 2nd Reading ***

2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18

As for me, I am already poured out as a libation, and the moment of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the just judge, will reward me, on that day, and not only me, but all those who have longed for his glorious coming.

At my first hearing in court, no one supported me; all deserted me. May the Lord not hold it against them. But the Lord was at my side, giving me strength, to proclaim the word fully, and let all the pagans hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will save me from all evil, bringing me to his heavenly kinfdom. Glory to him for ever and ever. Amen!

 

**** Gospel ****

Luke 18: 9-14

 Jesus told another parable to some per­sons fully convinced of their own righteous­ness, who looked down on others,   “Two men went up to the Temple to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood by him­self and said: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people, grasping, crooked, adulterous, or even like this tax collector.  

 I fast twice a week and give a  tenth of all my income to the Temple.’  In the meantime the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying: ‘O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’

I tell you, when this man went back to his house, he had been reconciled with God, but not the other. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised up.”

  

Reflection gospel:

READ: Sirach in the first reading says that the prayer of the humble pierces the clouds. The gospel clearly illustrates this by way of a concrete example. God truly delights in humble prayers.

REFLECT: The Pharisee’s prayer is a litany of all the good he has done and of his faithfulness to his religious obligations. But all these he did to compare himself with others and to show how much better he had become unlike the rest. This kind of prayer is overbearing and self-righteous. When we compare ourselves with others, we will always find ourselves better and proud. We will always see what we have and what others lack. But when we look at ourselves put side by side with God, the whole picture will change and we will be humbled. We will always find that we lack in many ways.

PRAY: “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

ACT: Avail of the sacrament of reconciliation within the week. Approach God in the sacrament in a spirit of humble recognition of his mercy and forgiveness.完