HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF LENT

Homily for Saturday of the 3rd week of Lent

Hosea 6:1-6. Psalm 51:3-4,18-19,20-21ab. Luke 18:9-14.

The prophet Isaiah tells us in the first reading, "Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up" (Hos.6:1). Once we decide to leave God, we become torn and stricken, but if we come to our senses and return to him, He will heal us and raise us up.

One of the signs that we have left the Lord is when we are proud and despise others like the Pharisee in parable of Jesus in today's Gospel. Jesus told this parable to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.

All that the Pharisees said about himself is true, but he went home sad because he was full of himself. He was recounting his achievements, which were filthy rags before God's holiness. Instead of communing with God in humility, he was simply talking to himself. Since he was full of himself, there was nothing he needed from God. He forgot that every good deed we do is the fruit of God's grace at work in our lives. Whatever good deed we have done is nothing compared to what God has already done for us.

Whenever we are before God, we must approach him in humility like the tax collector in today's Gospel. We must approach God recognizing our sinfulness and weakness and the fact that we have received everything good that we have from God. That is what makes our prayer fruitful. It is when we humble ourselves before God that He will exalt us.

May God grant us a humble and contrite heart and grant our request according to his will through Christ our Lord. Amen.