Homily for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
Sirach 35:12-14; Psalm 34; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14
When Prayer Becomes Surrender
Dear friends,
Authentic prayer is not a show before others but an opening before God. The Pharisee performs; the tax collector prays. We are made right with God not by comparison or self-righteousness, but by humility and mercy. It is not our deeds that justify us, but our openness to grace.
Today’s readings invite us into a profound reversal of expectations — a turning of the tables in God’s economy, and an invitation into humble trust that changes everything.
In the first reading from Sirach, we hear: “The Lord is a God of justice; He knows no favorites. Although He is not unduly partial toward the weak, yet He hears the cry of the oppressed.” (Sir 35:12-14). And the Psalm echoes this: “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.” (Psalm 34). Then in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells the well-known parable: one man prays with pride, the other with humility; the proud goes home unreconciled, the humble goes home justified. (Luke 18:9-14).
What is Jesus telling us? He is telling us that the path to God is not found in our self-righteousness, in our putting ourselves forward, in our comparison with others — but in a posture of humility, of recognizing our need, of turning to God with an open heart.
Imagine the scene: the Pharisee stands in the temple, arms crossed, praising himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people…” While the tax collector stands far off, “would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner.’” And Jesus says: “I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other.” (Luke 18:14).
Notice the surprising scandal: the one we might expect to be justified — the one who prays loudly, impressively, publicly — is not. Instead, the one who simply trusts, who cannot even lift his eyes, who says nothing grand — that one is justified.
In our lives, this speaks deeply. How often do we go into prayer, into worship, into service, with the Pharisee’s posture? We want to appear upright, good, successful. We compare ourselves to others. We perhaps even use our service to God to elevate ourselves in our own eyes or the eyes of others.
But Jesus calls us to something different. He calls us into the humility of the tax collector: to honest awareness of our need, to stand far off, to beat our breast, to ask: “God, be merciful to me.” That is the ground on which God meets us — the humble place of trust.
And the book of Sirach reminds us that God hears the cry of the oppressed, the weak, the humble. God is not impressed by self-righteousness, by display, by comparing ourselves. Instead, God’s favor rests on the one who trusts. God is just, yes — but God’s justice is the justice of mercy.
For everyone who ministers or leads, and indeed, for every Christian life, this is life changing. We are invited to embody humility in all things. To recognize that our worth is not in what we can claim, nor how we can show ourselves righteous, but in how we allow God’s mercy to sweep over us and transform us.
We can draw out 3 takeaways from the readings of this Sunday:
1. Humility before God.
We might ask ourselves: When I pray, do I come as the Pharisee or as the tax collector? Do I list my accomplishments and defend myself, or do I quietly say: “God, have mercy on me”? That moment of honest vulnerability opens us to the grace of God. It is not about being self-deprecating in a false way, but being real in our need, and real in our trust.
2. Humility among others.
In the first reading we heard: “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.” When we presume ourselves superior, when we judge others, we separate ourselves from that dynamic. But when we recognize the dignity and vulnerability of every human being — and especially “the poor” in spirit, those oppressed, those whose voice is seldom heard — we mirror God’s heart. Our ministry, our relationships, our life as disciples must be rooted in meekness and justice. God honors the humble; God lifts the lowly.
3. Humility in service.
This is particularly important for those of us called to serve — in doing the Word, in doing the work of the Gospel. True service is never about coming forward and saying, “Look how much I do.” It is about stepping back, about letting God take the lead, about being open to surprise and reversal. We serve because we recognize we have been served. We serve because we have been forgiven. We serve because we have been given mercy, and we pass that mercy on.
Only then can understand the words of Paul in 2 Timothy: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness…” (2 Tim 4:7-8). Here is a humble servant, confident not in his own power, but in the power of God who stands by him, rescues him.
Friends, the Kingdom of God is not for the show-offs, the self-promoters. The Kingdom of God is for those who trust, those who bow, those who serve. Jesus invites us into a life turned inside-out: the last shall be first, the humble exalted.
So, as we approach the altar today, let us come as the tax collector: aware of our need, trusting in God’s mercy. Let us step out from the altar into our lives — into our homes, our workplaces, our parishes — in humility, in service, in justice.
Let us ask: “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” And let us watch how God answers the cry of the humble and broken-hearted.
May our lives testify that God hears the cry of the poor, of the broken, of the humble. May we be those who do not seek our own glory, but God’s. May we be the people who receive mercy and give mercy. Amen.
Have a splendid day!
