2025-10-25 5:00 pm. Saturday celebration of the Vigil Mass for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Good evening and welcome to the celebration of the Vigil Mass on this, the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our Gospel reading today (Luke 18:9-14), focuses on the core themes of humility, pride, justification, and God's surprising mercy. The parable is aimed at those who are self-righteous and look down on others, a perennial human condition. It challenges us to examine our own hearts, our posture toward others, and our understanding of what it means to be right with God. The self-exalting prayer of the Pharisee The Pharisee represents the religious "insider," someone who followed the letter of the law. His prayer is a performance, not an act of worship. He stands alone, separate from others, and his prayer is directed to himself as much as to God. He defines his righteousness by what he is not ("not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers") and by his scrupulous adherence to religious duties ("I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income"). This prayer, filled with self-praise, reveals a heart of contempt for others, particularly the tax collector standing nearby. His piety, despite its appearance, is spiritually empty because it lacks humility and love for his neighbor. The humble plea of the tax collector The tax collector, despised by his community as a traitor and a sinner, stands at a distance, not even daring to look up to heaven. His posture is one of deep remorse, beating his breast to express his sorrow. His prayer is simple and direct: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!". There is no pretense, no list of accomplishments, only a profound awareness of his sinfulness and need for God's grace. His prayer shows that true righteousness comes not from human effort or social standing but from a sincere and humble confession of sin and reliance on God's mercy. The surprise of justification The shocking outcome of the parable is that the tax collector—not the devout Pharisee—is the one who "went down to his home justified before God". For a first-century audience, this would have been a radical inversion of expectations. It confirms Jesus' broader message that God's grace is freely given to the undeserving, not earned by the self-righteous. The story suggests that justification is a divine act, not a human achievement. The tax collector, by simply casting himself on God's mercy, receives a righteousness he could never earn. Timeless reflections This parable is a spiritual mirror, forcing us to ask: "Which one am I?". It's a reminder that self-righteousness is a subtle trap, and we can still play the Pharisee even when consciously trying to be humble. The path to right standing with God isn't through comparing ourselves to others, but through acknowledging our own brokenness and need for grace. We are all sinners in need of God's mercy, and only when we embrace that reality can we be truly justified. Ultimately, the parable is less about the actions of the two men and more about the nature of God, who alone can judge the heart and who chooses to justify the ungodly. The good news is that the role of the tax collector—dependent on God's mercy—is available to everyone. The Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 34: "The poor one called and the Lord heard."