Praying with icons - February 1, 2026
- Fr. Tim Boyle
- Jan 30
- 2 min read
The Pharisee and the publican
The Pharisee in our gospel story missed the most important thing that God is looking for from us: humility. It's not what's on the outside, the things that others can see like fasting and being generous, that demonstrate our love for God.
Psalm 51 teaches us what's truly pleasing. You do not desire sacrifice; or else I would give it. You don't delight in burnt offerings; the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken humbled heart: these, oh God, you will not despise.
True humility makes us look to the inside of ourselves, helping us to see our shortcomings and then causing us to do something about it.
The Pharisee was able to recognize sin when he saw it in others, but the public was able to
recognize sin when he saw it in himself. No amount of the external things we do, no matter how pious looking they may appear, will ever bring us closer to God until we can change what is on the inside.
Things the Pharisee thought were important -fasting and tithing- were actually intended for our benefit, not for God's. Those activities that we undertake during Lent are designed to change our focus from this world to God's world, to teach us to pray more and judge less. They should help to draw our attention to our own faults and not to judge our sisters and brothers. They were intended to help us develop the same humility we see in the tax collector. Or the only plea we have before God is to simply say, 'have mercy on me.'
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