Flip the Script

Seeing how we all behave like the Pharisee

03/18/2023

Lk 18:9-14 Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Today we hear why Catholics love to sit in the back of church in the gospel today. And why no one likes to sit in the front of the church. It is an interesting phenomenon that most of the time when we go to Mass, people prefer the back seats and would rather not sit in the front pews in church. Although, when we go to basketball or football games, we all want to be close to the action, and not far away, because those are the more desirable seats. We are interesting people.

In the gospel today we get an idea why Catholics like to sit in the back of church, and that is because there is a sense of humility in where we sit. We don’t feel worthy to come up closer. And so in the parable that Jesus tells today we find the contrast between the tax collector, the obvious sinner, who sits in the back. And he beats his breast acknowledging his faults and failings.

By the way, that is why when we begin Mass and say the “Confiteor”, which is Latin for “I confess”, when we always beat our breasts, like the tax-collector did in the parable today. And that is where the beating of the breast business comes from. It is from Jesus’ parable in Luke 18. We didn’t just make that up; Jesus made that up. We do what he tells us to do. And so we beat our breasts and acknowledge our faults and failings, and grow in humility by sitting in the back of church.

Now this being in the back is opposed to the Pharisee, who is so full of his own self-righteousness. And when we first hear that parable – I don’t know about you – but I immediately put myself in the shoes of the tax-collector. And I think to myself, clearly I am humble, I acknowledge my sins, I beat my breast at the beginning of Mass. And look, I even prefer to sit in the back of church. I must be the humble one in the parable.

But I think we have to be very careful drawing that conclusion. I think more often than not, we are more like the Pharisee. It is very easy to compare ourselves to other people, and see how wrong they are, how many faults and failings they have, and easily justify ourselves. Whenever you tell others what is going on in your own home, in your relationship with your spouse, isn’t it easy to see your spouse’s faults and failings?

And isn’t it so easy to justify our own behavior? The reason I did that was because of X, Y, and Z. You see, I have reasons for my weaknesses. But my spouse, clearly, has no excuse for his bad behavior. You see, that is exactly what the Pharisee is doing. Whenever we tell stories of our past, we always put ourselves in the role of the hero, the knight in shining armor. When you are the director of the play, you cast yourself in the leading role. That’s how we all tell the stories of our lives.

When we think about this parable, and think about our own lives, we shouldn’t be too quick to think we are the humble tax-collector just because we sit in the back of church. Listen very carefully to how you tell the stories of yourself, and other people. And how easily we see their weaknesses, and how easily we justify our own faults and failings.

One last thing this parable always brings to my mind is how we design churches. Ever since Vatican II in the early 1960’s, we started to design churches in a different way. Have you noticed this? You can always tell when a church was built: either before 1960, or after 1960. Before 1960, the churches we built like our own Immaculate Conception, long and narrow, and with an area in the back, far away from the altar.

The churches that were built after the 1960’s, were built like Christ the King, here in Fort Smith. It is built in the shape of a semi-circle. What is the effect of a semi-circle? It brings everyone closer to the altar. In that design, there’s no one who’s far away from the altar. The point of the design is to bring people closer to the altar.

Now I have to admit, those churches that are designed like IC or like Christ the King is either friendly to the preacher or to the people. The long, narrow-like church is friendly to the people because you can hide in the back. The churches that are designed like Christ the King, on the other hand, are friendly to the preacher. Why? Well, everyone is close, and I can see you, whether you’re paying attention or falling asleep. You cannot hide from me. That is the point of the design, to bring you close to me, so that I can speak to you.

And I used to think that maybe one design was better than the other. But I have no earthly idea which design is really best. But I do know this: sometimes it’s everything we can do to walk through the doors of a church. For some people that small step requires a Herculean amount of heroic courage. It’s almost impossible for someone to walk inside the door of a church, even if they’re still a hundred miles away from the altar.

And so, maybe this older design has some merit, because it does allow people to hide. That is, to hide from the great, bright light that is Christ, and which we cannot quite bear in its full force. We cannot even lift our eyes, like this poor tax-collector, and look into the bright sun of Jesus’ love and mercy. And we sit in the back. We beat our breasts, and we ask for forgiveness.

Praised be Jesus Christ!