Ecclesiasticus 35:12–14, 16–19; 2 Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18; Luke 18:9–14
If you compare the reading from Second Timothy with the parable in Luke’s Gospel passage, the similarities between Paul’s personal assessment and that of the Pharisee are striking. Both seem to be blowing their own trumpet with considerable gusto, but no one would say that Paul is like the Pharisee. Why is this so? Presumably because we instinctively place the Pauline proclamation within the larger context of what we know about Paul’s career and his frank admission that he was a persecutor of the Church, the worst of sinners and quite unworthy to be called an apostle. It is on the basis of his awareness of how bad he was and how merciful God’s judgement towards him has been that he can make the claims he makes. It is faith in Jesus as saviour that provides Paul with his ‘sure and certain hope of salvation’ as the traditional saying expresses it. Moreover, Paul’s conviction about the saving grace of Christ applies not only to his initial conversion but throughout his life: as he says ‘the Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the pagans to hear’.
We could apply Jesus’ words about the humble to Paul and say that, as presented in the letter to Timothy, he is a model of the humble Christian. A truly humble person is not a ‘shrinking violet’ who denies any good that is said about them but someone who has an honest perception of him or herself. He or she willing to say what this is and to accept criticism where it is due in order to gain better self–knowledge. The humble person does not fear the judgement of God who, as the reading from Ecclesiasticus claims, is the supremely just and merciful judge. ‘He shows no respect of personages to the detriment of a poor man’. With God as the ultimate judge of the worth of one’s life, we have no need to fear the judgement of others however flawed or hostile it may be.
One could also say that Paul is keen to sound the trumpet here because it is a celebration, a thanksgiving for what God has worked in him and the works of God should be made manifest (don’t hide your light under a bushel but on a stand so that it can give light to the whole house). Paul, forgiven and graced, becomes a revelation of the saving presence of God, and this happens too for each one of us as forgiven and graced. That is why the sacrament of reconciliation is performed as a public ritual with an emphasis on community.
In contrast the Pharisee, as he is presented in the parable, is certain that he has no need of God’s forgiveness: rather he thanks God that ‘I am not like this tax collector here’. In effect he has set himself up as his own judge and the judge of others as well; the irony of the parable is that when we do this we unwittingly set ourselves up as our own executioner. Like the Pharisee, we can think we are certain about our selves and others, and just as certainly wrong about both.
But we can also be certain when we are right and the parable provides the necessary guidelines. The tax collector is certain that he is a sinner, prays to God for forgiveness and, in the words of Jesus, goes home ‘at rights with God’. If Paul could step into this parable he would show the publican the next step in the Christian journey: the certainty that he has been put ‘at rights with God’ and that this should be proclaimed and celebrated. All that we do should be for the glory of God and it is surely to the glory of God that we proclaim ourselves as sinners who have been forgiven by God and been made righteous.