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Gospel Lesson for the
Week
October 28, 2007
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Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost
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."
The last temptation is the greatest treason:
to do the right deed for the wrong reason.
-- T.S. Eliot, Murder in the
Cathedral
ULTIMATE TREASON vs. ULTIMATE
TRUST
Boasting of virtue before
the Deity
ill-behooves the best of
us,
for whatever we may do,
whatever benevolence or
charity,
whatever act of piety,
when measured against
the awesome yardstick of
God,
as seen in this Story
Teller,
falls woefully short.
Far better is the course
of one
who, under the burden of
his sin,
or, more accurately, his
sense of sin,
cries out to heaven with
bowed head,
“Have mercy on me,”
pronouncing the S-word
and pointing to his heart.
Where does the virtue lie,
and who is to be justified
before God and humankind?
Not he who trusts in his
own goodness
and boasts of his high
merit,
for he betrays both God
and himself.
True virtue lies, said
Jesus,
in the one who, knowing
his sin,
trusts God to justify.
“The last temptation is the greatest treason:
to do the right deed for the wrong
reason.”
---
rvc
*** D I S C L A I M E R ***
The Weekly Lessons are based on the lectionary
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