Dear Parishioners of St. James:
Praised be Jesus Christ!
God is moved when we acknowledge our lowliness. He does not have to hear and grant our prayers, but He delights in doing so for the humble. God resists the proud because they pretend to be something they are not. In truth, we are weak creatures who are in desperate need of God’s mercy. Right relationship with God requires the right assessment of who God is and who we are.
God does not condemn us for our weakness but only our failure to admit it and repent. The tax collector in today’s Gospel left the temple justified in God’s sight because he humbly admitted his need for mercy, while the proud Pharisee thought God owed him something. God is generous – super generous – to the soul that realizes the truth about himself, but He at the same time leaves the proud soul in his own sins. The fault is not God’s but ours. He stands ready to justify us by His grace if we would only ask Him.
How does God see you? He sees a beloved child who needs His grace to do any good act. How do you see yourself? Hopefully, we see our need for salvation and mercy and humbly ask our Father for it. He is pleased to give us what corresponds to the truth.
God bless you,
Fr. Geary
Saint James Catholic Church 