*True Prayer*
Hosea 5:15–6:6; Psalm 51; Luke 18:9–14
Through the mouth of Prophet Hosea, God says, “What I want is love, not sacrifice and holocausts.” God wants true love, not emotions and religiosity. Oftentimes, in the presence of God, we easily express emotions and assume holy and spiritual moods, but deep within us, there is no love.
Similarly, today’s psalm reechoes the saying, “What I want is love, not sacrifice.” Therefore, we must abhor all forms of shallow or false worship or false sacrifice. A false sacrifice is a sacrifice that lacks love.
Moving further, the gospel presents us with the parable of the pharisee and tax collector. It speaks of two men, two prayers, two attitudes, and two verdicts.
Basically, it demonstrated two forms of prayer: a man who declared himself righteous before God and the one who accepted his unrighteousness and asked for God’s mercy.
In true prayer or sacrifice, we express love, accept our faults, and ask for God’s mercy, and then we are sanctified. But false prayer is all about us; like the Pharisee, false prayer is all about what God can do for us and a warm feeling of self-satisfaction and self-righteousness. Jesus exhorts us, saying, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted.”
*LET US PRAY*
O Lord, our God, give us the grace of true worship and penance so that we may enjoy the fuller effect of this Lenten season. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
