Ecclesiasticus 35:12-14, 16-19 / 2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18 / Luke 18:9-14
The phrase “fair and square” is a common phrase and we know what it means.
Generally, it means that there is no biasness, no dishonesty and there is no cheating.
Whenever that phrase is used, it is expected that all parties are happy and satisfied with the final result or outcome.
So, it seems that it is a win-win situation for all involved parties because all is fair and square.
But, is the world really that fair and square?
Is life really that fair and square?
Because the fact is that there is a disparity or a difference in all aspects of life.
And we have accepted these disparities and differences as a fact of life.
Some people are richer, while some are poorer.
Some live in private property, others in flats. Some are talented and gifted, while others are just ordinary or even less than ordinary.
So, the reality is that not all is fair and square.
But we have accepted this reality of life and we don’t make a fuss out of it.
But we are also obligated to keep the gap as close as possible between these disparities and differences, and not to widen it.
In the gospel, Jesus told a parable to address the pride of some people.
In their pride, those people thought they were virtuous and even despised everyone else.
In a parable, Jesus used the Temple as the setting, and there was a Pharisee and a tax-collector in the Temple.
The Pharisee stood there and said this so-called prayer to himself.
In that prayer which he addressed to God, he was actually bragging, that he was not grasping, unjust and adulterous like the rest of mankind.
As if that was not enough, he even compared himself to the tax-collector, so as to put him down.
But the tax-collector did not retaliate.
Rather with lowered eyes and beating his breast, he said: God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Although it is only a parable, yet Jesus brought out the reality and the disparity of life, that all is not that fair and square.
In terms of status and religious standing, the Pharisee and tax-collector are like from two different worlds.
Yet in the Temple, they are equal in the eyes of God.
As the 1st reading tells us, God is no respecter of personages.
And God shows no respect to personages to the detriment of a poor man.
God listens to the plea of the injured party.
He does not ignore the orphan’s supplication, nor the widow as she pours out her story.
Yes, with God, all is equal, all is fair and square.
And the 1st reading also tells us that God listens to the prayer of a humble person.
As we come to Church, we come before God who loves us and will listen to our prayers.
We all have come to Church with a prayer in our hearts.
We pray for healing from illnesses or diseases. We pray for peace and harmony in our families.
We pray for reconciliation in our strained and broken relationships.
And like St. Paul in the 2nd reading, we pray that we will also fight the good fight, to run the race to the finish and to keep the faith.
So, we don’t stand around in Church and point out the faults and failings of others.
Rather, we kneel with the tax collector and say: O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
In life, all may not be that fair and square.
But let us be humble, and do what is right and just, and God will look on us with love, and He will listen to our prayer.