Today's Gospel presents us once again Jesus' parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector who both came to the Temple to pray (Luke 18:9-14).The Pharisee actually starts His prayer on the right tone but immediately goes awry. He begins by saying, "O God, I thank you". That is a very good thing. Prayer is a time to be grateful, to recognize that everything is God's grace.
But then immediately afterwards he goes on to say "... that I am not like the rest of humanity -greedy, dishonest, adulterous- or even like this tax collector ...". From being a prayer, his discourse turns to a self-righteous condemnation of the rest of the world.
On the other hand, we understand why the tax collector's prayer was pleasing to God: because of his acknowledgment of God as the Other one.
Prayer is placing ourselves before God, the Other one. Jesus taught us to call God our Father, but this doesn't take away the immense difference between us and God.
This difference shouldn't be a cause of despair or inferiority. Rather, it should lead to gratitude because, in reality, when we pray, it is God Himself who crosses the boundaries and distance between us.
It is gratitude and humility that enable me to see God's great act of crossing over.
Only grateful and humble people pray.
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