Student Planner 2013 - Tccr.com.au

Signed Parent:
Signed Teacher:
30th Sunday of
Ordinary Time
October 27, 2013
CUT HERE
Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who
trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and regarded others with
contempt: “Two men went up to the
temple to pray, one a Pharisee and
the other a tax collector. The Pharisee,
standing by himself, was praying thus,
God, I thank you that I am not like other
people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or
even like this tax collector. I fast twice a
week; I give a tenth of all my income.
But the tax collector, standing far off,
would not even look up to heaven, but
was beating his breast and saying,
God, be merciful to me, a sinner! I tell
you, this man went down to his home
justified rather than the other; for all who
exalt themselves will be humbled, but all
who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Reflection
In this Sunday’s Gospel we met a tax
collector (like we do next week) and in
both cases they are people who have a
grounding in what it means to be human.
In this week’s parable, he is contrasted
with the Pharisee. It can be easy to think
that the Pharisee’s life describes what
we refer to as being a “holy person”,
someone who does the “religious stuff”
in a big way which in turn gives us a
perception of how we should be. But
the tax collector gives a different version
of holiness. He identifies how we get
it wrong at times. We don’t do the
religious in a big way maybe not even in
a small way. Yet here is someone who
acknowledges his sinfulness and comes
humbly before God. To be holy requires
one to accept God into their life and this
requires an acknowledgement that we
need God to help us through the mess of
life. The Beatitudes of Matthew’s Gospel
refers to a way of holiness, “Blessed are
the poor in Spirit.”
Prayer
Loving God, help me to find you in my
daily life. May I know of your love in not
just the good times but in the difficult.
We make this prayer through Christ
our Lord.
Amen.
october
2013