Daily Catholic Lectio
Sat, 29 March ‘25
Third Week of Lent – Saturday
Hosea 6:1-6; Luke 18:9-14
Two Types of Prayer
In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus tells a parable. It is a response to the question: “Who is acceptable before God?” For Jesus and his contemporaries, it was believed that prayer made one acceptable to God. Through this parable, Jesus teaches that the attitude or disposition with which we pray either draws us closer to God or moves us away from Him.
The Pharisee who prays focuses on himself—on his good deeds, his righteousness, and his worthiness. He lists his good works and, as if God were obligated to reward them, he seems to bargain with God.
The tax collector, in contrast, centres his prayer on God. He confesses his brokenness and realizes that only by God’s abundant mercy is anything possible. His prayer comes from a place of humility and trust.
Jesus turns the common understanding upside down.
It is not an abundance of words, good deeds, or personal righteousness that leads us;
it is God’s mercy that leads and sustains us.
Jesus also highlights the greatness of humility:
“All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
In the First Reading, we hear a similar message:
Sacrifices do not please the Lord,
but a heart that knows and responds to His mercy.
Let us reflect today on our way of praying.
Among the two types of prayer above, which one is ours?
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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