Weekly thoughts on the Sunday Gospel, readings or a topic...

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seeing your life through the lens of the gospels – Luke 18:9-14
1. There can be an element of defensiveness in our relationships with others. We are reluctant to let another see us as we see ourselves. Occasionally we meet someone with whom we can be totally open and know we will be accepted. With whom have you had that kind of a relationship? What was it like for you to have that freedom?
2. Likewise with God, when we come to prayer pretending to be better than we are, we are hiding from God. What difference does it make when you pray to God, acknowledging your faults and limitations? Have you ever found that in prayer, when you are humble in this way, God lifts you up?
3. The parable is also a cautionary tale against judging others negatively on the basis of externals. Perhaps God, who looks into the heart, sees another picture. When have you discovered there was more to another person than the negative picture you got from first impressions?  
– John Byrne, OSA

The Deep End
‘Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.’ Depending on whom you ask, this well-known quote is attributed to Plato, Philo, Ian Maclaren or a variety of other thinkers. Another writer, Peter Pan author JM Barrie, expressed a similar sentiment thus: ‘Always try to be a little kinder than is necessary’.
How easy it can be to judge. The Pharisee in the parable does not come across as a pleasant man, with his superiority complex and his judgemental attitude towards the tax collector. He knew nothing of the other man praying alongside him in the temple, of his joys or his struggles. Yet he was ready to dismiss him and others as ‘grasping, unjust, adulterous’. The tax collector, on the other hand, was humble enough to admit to his shortcomings, and to simply ask God for his mercy and help.
Like the Pharisee, our attitude towards others can leave room for improvement. We can be all too ready to judge others and to feel ourselves somehow superior to them, without knowing anything about their situation.
Today’s Psalm tells us that the Lord is close to the broken-hearted. We are all broken-hearted in our own way, and we all need God’s help. We all have our challenges and struggles. If we could remember this about each other, we would be a lot kinder to those we meet.  – Tríona Doherty

(from Intercom)