The Curé of Ars
(Sir.35:12-14, 6-18; 2Tim.4:6-8, 16-18; Lk.18:9-14)
Many people today have a presence on social media.
Whether it’s on Instagram, Facebook or some other app, they like posting images of their ‘best self’ – their holidays, successes and filtered photos. Rarely, however, are there any pictures of any failures, mistakes or struggles. This means that their profile is never complete.
In our prayer life, God doesn’t want any such filters. He wants the real us – our raw, messy, but honest selves. That’s what Jesus is saying in his Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector today.
Two men go to the Temple. The proud Pharisee stands where everyone can see him, he looks up to heaven and prays loudly. He thanks God that he’s not like everyone else, for he’s surely a virtuous man.
The Tax Collector, however, stands at the back. He’s ashamed of his life and bows his head (Ez.9:6). He prays quietly, asking God for his forgiveness.
Which prayer does Jesus prefer? It’s the humble person’s, of course. Jesus isn’t impressed by appearances, for he can see straight into our hearts.
Someone who lived this humility was St John Vianney, the Curé of Ars.
Born in France in 1786, he was a poor student at school, and in the seminary he failed at theology, French and Latin. His professors considered him slow and unfit for the priesthood, and told him to leave.
However, he had one quality that mattered more than intelligence: humility. He prayed like the tax collector: ‘Lord, have mercy on me; I am weak, but I want to serve you.’
John Vianney went on to receive private tuition and was ordained. Then God began to use his humility in a powerful way. He was sent to the tiny village of Ars, in eastern France, where almost no-one practised their faith.
People worked on Sundays, the taverns were full and the church was empty. It seemed like an impossible task, but John Vianney did not rely on his own strength. Instead, he prayed, fasted, and above all, he humbled himself before God.
Drawn to his humility, the villagers started returning to Mass. However, the real miracle was in the confessional. Crowds came from all over France, sometimes waiting for days, just to confess their sins to him. Why?
It wasn’t because of his eloquence or his intellect. When they looked at John Vianney, they saw a man who had first confessed his own need for God’s mercy, and this gave them the courage to seek the same.
By the end of his life, St. John Vianney was spending up to sixteen hours a day hearing confessions. He became a living example of today’s Gospel, demonstrating that the person who kneels before God, empty-handed, whispering ‘Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner,’ is the one who God lifts up.
This is the lesson Jesus wants us to learn.
When we pray, God is not impressed by our status, image or list of achievements. He doesn’t need our résumé. What God wants is the honesty of our hearts.
That’s why, before receiving the Holy Eucharist at every Mass, we pray together: ‘Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.’
This is the prayer of the tax collector, and it’s the prayer of John Vianney. Because he saw himself as an unworthy priest, he let God work through him, and this dependence brought great fruit.
Humility is the prayer that opens us up to God’s grace.
Today’s parable, then, invites us to rediscover the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where, like the tax collector, we come with empty hands, aware of our sinfulness.
And yet, when we kneel and say, ‘Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,’ we walk away like the tax collector did: loved, forgiven and free to start afresh.
At the end of today’s parable, the Pharisee leaves the Temple just the same as he entered it – full of pride, but empty of grace.
The tax collector, however, leaves the Temple a very different man – humbled, but filled with God’s mercy.
When we come before God, whether in prayer, in Mass or in Confession, how do we arrive? Are we like the Pharisee, congratulating ourselves? Or are we more the tax collector, humbled, ready to receive God’s mercy?
In Luke 14:11, Jesus promises that all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
Like St John Vianney, may we never be afraid to kneel before God with empty hands. For God always lifts up those who humble themselves.