Content

The WORD today reminds me that God looks at the content of our prayer. 

There is more than what meets the eye. 

I believe this is true. There is almost always something more, a deeper meaning and reason beyond the surface level. There are people who seemingly say one thing but actually mean another. There are people who seem to proclaim and share their work for God but are actually looking for applause and building up themselves, not God. This is what happened to the story in the gospel. 

It is not enough that we pray. God looks at the content of our prayers, for the content tells God the state of our hearts. 

In the gospel, the Pharisee prayed, but the focus was not on God. The focus was on himself. How he thinks he is a good person, a God fearing person that people should look up to. He was boasting of how advanced his state is compared to others. And God did not like than. On the other hand, the tax collector had a short prayer. Short but sincere, humble and repentant. Simple, but deep because it was from the heart. Because the focus was on God. Because he knows how small he is compared to God's greatness. And because he knows and hopes God will forgive him. 

Our prayers tell God the state of our hearts. 

When we are like the Pharisee, focusing on ourselves and how great a servant of God we are, then we are not praying. We are boasting and telling God how great we are. We are not focusing on God, but on ourselves. We do not ask God to fill us up, but are telling God we are doing well and must be emulated by others. However, if we are repentant like the tax collector, then God sees how serious, repentant and humble we are. And will help us improve and become more like him. 

Do I pray? How do I pray? Do I merely say how great I am? Or do I humbly come to God with a contrite and repentant heart, asking for his forgiveness and his guidance? How can I improve my prayer life today?

May we not be contented by merely praying, but examine our prayers and see if we are focusing on God or on ourselves. 

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another chance to love and serve you. Thank you for another weekend. Lord, sorry for the times my prayer focuses on myself, not on you. Sorry for being proud. Sorry for having pride. Lord, help me be more aware of my prayers. Help me be sensitive of my prayers. Disturb me and make me aware if my prayers are focusing on myself, and not on you. Help me have a humble and contrite heart, and as I come to you, I ask that you not only forgive me, but fill me and make me more like you. Amen. 

Blessed Weekend! 

In Christ,

-g-

Ps

See related reflection:

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2021/03/not-just-sacrifice.html

Daily Readings

• MARCH 17, 2023
• March 18, 2023
• MARCH 19, 2023

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Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

Lectionary: 242

Reading I

Hos 6:1-6

“Come, let us return to the LORD,
    it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;
    he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.
He will revive us after two days;
    on the third day he will raise us up,
    to live in his presence.
Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD;
    as certain as the dawn is his coming,
    and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!
He will come to us like the rain,
    like spring rain that waters the earth.”

What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your piety is like a morning cloud,
    like the dew that early passes away.
For this reason I smote them through the prophets,
    I slew them by the words of my mouth;
For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
    and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Responsorial Psalm

51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab

R.    (see Hosea 6:6)  It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
    in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
    and of my sin cleanse me.
R.    It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
    should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
    a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R.    It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
Be bountiful, O LORD, to Zion in your kindness
    by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem;
Then shall you be pleased with due sacrifices,
    burnt offerings and holocausts.
R.    It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.

Verse before the Gospel

Ps 95:8

If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.

Gospel

Lk 18:9-14

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — 
greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week,
and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”