Spiritual Longing

It seems to me that many people have a deep longing for spirituality.

If you walk through any bookstore, you will see it immediately shelves lined with a variety of guides on meditation, mindfulness, inner balance, awareness. Perhaps you, too, have noticed it: The search for a meaningful, spiritual life seems to be everywhere and that is very good.

All of this tells us something important: People are yearning for depth in their lives, for meaning, for a living relationship with something greater than themselves.

So we might ask: What is Christian based spirituality — and how or where do we find it?

Follow Luke's Lead

Luke’s Gospel Luke 18: 9-14) offers us a clear path. Step by step, in his Gospel, he leads us into what it takes to create a space for a spiritually fulfilled life, it is a life rooted in prayer, and in relationship with God.

In Chapter 11 of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus teaches the Lord’s Prayer and invites us to place our trust in God. Later, in Chapter 18, the passage we hear today, he shows us two people at prayer, whose attitudes could not be more different. It is the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

Two Different Men - Two Different Attitudes

First, there is the Pharisee. He stands tall in the temple, raises his hands to heaven, and gives thanks, but his gratitude seems to carry a trace of arrogance: “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."

His prayer is kind of a monologue about himself. He lists his good deeds and measures himself against others. There is no room for relationship, no room for God and everything seems to circle around his own ego. As pious and correct as it sounds, in the end it is a lonely prayer, one in which he encounters no one but himself.

Praying With Humility

Then there is the second man, the tax collector. He stays at the back of the temple, hardly daring to lift his eyes. All he says is, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

Just a few words. Simple. Honest. Real. He doesn’t boast or compare. His prayer is not a performance. It’s not about showing himself or trying to prove something. He just stands there, as he is. Aware of his weaknesses, his limitations and his brokenness, but he calls upon the mercy of God.

It is a conversation, with God. This divine-human dialog opened the tax collector’s heart and soul to trust and hope in God’s mercy. And that is the real power of a honest prayer.

Dear Brothers and Sisters

Between these two ways of praying—the proud Pharisee and the humble tax collector—stretches the whole range of human spirituality. Both men pray. Both turn to God. But only one allows himself to be touched.

The Pharisee’s prayer is like a mirror - he sees only himself. The tax collector’s prayer is like an open window as he lets the light of God in. And this light doesn’t just reveal his weaknesses, it reveals his worth in the eyes of God. Because friends, when we turn honestly toward God without pretending to be perfect, we discover: We can come just as we are. We don’t need to hide, or prove anything or justify ourselves. It is God who justifies.

There Is More To Prayer

That is what Jesus wants his fellowers to understand. Prayer is not about reciting words – even pius words - in lifeless structure of achievements.

Prayer is about seeking out a meaningful relationship. The contradiction of this parable emphasizes, not the number of words or the outer form, but the honesty of the heart that prays the words.

To pray is to open yourself, to show yourself, to trust yourself to God.

Friends, this way of praying takes courage.

That is why prayer lies at the very heart of faith. It shows us how we really stand before God: Do I speak with Him or only about myself? Do I open my heart in dialogue or do I simply talk to myself?

Let Us Ask Again

How can a spiritual life truly take root and grow? I am convinced. It is not through methods, or an unhealthy self-optimization, but through the openness of a humble heart. It’s the attitude of the tax collector who prays: “God, I need you. I trust you. Be merciful to me.”

That’s where real faith begins.

In that simplicity, we find depth. In that honesty, we find freedom. And in that humility, we find the power to be transformed through God’s love.

For the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

Praised be Jesus Christ. Amen.