30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C Prison Awareness Sunday

          The Diocese of Sorsogon is hosting the International Pilgrim Image of the Our Lady of Fatima here in Sorsogon City in the Diocesan Marian Shrine in the Parish of the Our Lady of Fatima.  There will be a vigil at Fatima this evening starting 7:30 till 12:30 after midnight.  Tomorrow there will be a Farewell Holy Mass at Fatima at 6 in the morning then there will be a motorcade to Legazpi City.  Let us grab this opportunity this Marian month of October to pray to Mother Mary for our personal intentions and she will surely intercede for us to her Son our Lord Jesus.

          The Cathedral Parish of Sts. Peter and Paul joins the whole Church of the Philippines in helping our fellow Filipinos and brothers and sisters in Christ in the devastated towns of Bohol, Cebu and the Visayas.  The Second Collection of this Holy Mass, of all the Masses of this Sunday, here in Cathedral and in all Chapels, will be forwarded to the earthquake victims.  Let us pray for our departed brothers in sisters and let us extend whatever aid we can to the victims of this natural disaster.

          The Gospel of this Sunday, the 30^th of Ordinary Time, tells of two different types of prayer stemming from two different types of hearts of men.  The first prayer, that of the Pharisee, went like this: “I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of mankind, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get.” The second prayer, that of the tax collector however, went this way: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”  The first one was a long one, not really adoring, nor thanking, nor asking anything, nor asking for forgiveness.  It sounds more like boasting, a heart that boasts of his goodness and his being better than the others.  The second prayer is short, to the point and humble.  The tax collector adores God and thanks Him for His greatness.  He asks, and asks forgiveness for his sins which he humbly and openly admit without excuses.  Jesus clearly indicates His preference for this humble second prayer.  We hear the same prayer from the First Reading taken from the Book of Ecclesiasticus Chapter 34: The man who with his whole heart serves God will be accepted, his petitions will carry to the clouds.The humble until it arrives he is inconsolable.  The Lord hears the cry of the poor, the widow and the orphan.  He hears the cry of the humble, of those who have humble heart.  Psalm 33 prays with the same heart: The poor man called; the Lord has heard him.  While St. Paul, righteous as he was, still recognized his lowliness and need for God’s aid in these times of his imprisonment and unjust suffering.  We see here that the prayer of the Pharisee is clearly against that of the First Reading and that of the Second Reading and is quite a caricature of Psalm 33.  A humble heart is heard, while a proud heart falls on deaf ears.

         

          Here are some questions for our pondering this Sunday: how is my prayer?  Do I pray like the Pharisee or do I pray like the tax collector?  Do I pray with a humble heart or is my heart full of arrogance and pride?  Am I humble or do I have a better than thou attitude?  Do I make a lot of excuses when I do ask forgiveness or I just state the facts, admit them humbly and try to make right what wrong I have done?  It is not really a matter of phrasing well the prayers we make.  It is a matter of having the right state of mind, better, the right state of heart.  A humble prayer exudes from a humble heart.  A proud prayer is the result of a proud heart.  What indeed can we be proud of in the face of the Almighty God for we have none which really comes from us, we are no one if not a creature of God, our very being we owe from Him.  Let us pray for a humble heart: O Lord, give us Your Eyes so that we may see ourselves as we really are; give us Your Ears so that we may hear ourselves as we really are; and give us your heart, a humble and loving heart.

          As we close out our Sunday reflection, let us remember in a special way our poor brothers and sisters who are in prison justly or unjustly.  Let us pray for them, for their families, for the Philippine Justice System, for the judges, lawyers and court officials and attendants, for the Philippine Jail Department, for the jail wardens and all those who take care of the prisoners.  Perhaps we can visit them in the nearest City Jail or Provincial Jail.  Perhaps we can bring something for them and spend some time with them, sharing their woes and giving them hope.  Perhaps we can do something to help their families they left outside.  And perhaps we can assist them when, finally free, they try to find work, rebuild their lives and make-up to their families.  The Lord responds to their prayers also through us.  Amen.