“for whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted”

 
What is humility? “The virtue by which a Christian acknowledges that God is the author of all good.  Humility avoids inordinate ambition or pride, and provides the foundation for turning to God in prayer (2559).  Voluntary humility can be described as “poverty of spirit” (2546)[i]
 
What is the difference between the prayer of the Pharisee and that of the tax collector? When we look at the tax collectors prayer “O God, be merciful to me a sinner” and we look at the Pharisee’s prayer, “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity” it is easy to see which prayer is shallow and which prayer has a foundation.  When we are full of pride, our prayers will be shallow and self-centered. When we are humble, our prayers will be grounded and transcendent.  We constantly try to pray better, pray longer, and pray with more meaning and debt and sometimes even to “feel” something in prayer.  This is all in vain if we don’t first humble our self.  “God prefers humility in things that are done badly, rather than pride in those which are done well.”[ii]  We can repeat the simple prayer of the tax collector, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”  This prayer, called the Jesus prayer, is often said in the following form, “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner” and is one of the most ancient prayers in our Faith.
 
How does humility affect our prayers? “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.  But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or ‘out of the depths’ of a humble and contrite heart?  He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer.  Only when we humbly acknowledge that ‘we do not know how to pray as we ought,’ are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer.  ‘We are a beggar before God.’”[iii]  The Gospel says that the tax collector “would not even raise his eyes to heaven”, but in this simple outward sign of humility, he was surely raising his mind and heart to God.  The Pharisee on the other hand was not raising mind or heart to God, and in fact Jesus says that he “took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself.”  If we are not humble when we pray we are praying to ourselves, not to God.  The Pharisee almost makes himself equal to God, while the tax collector knows he is nothing, he is dust and from dust he shall return.
 
VIDEO – The Ways People Pray

What words should we use when we pray? What is important is that the prayers are spoken out of humility. All of our “formal” or “written” prayers were once spontaneously spoken from the heart and are words of humility. It is good then to recite the humble words of others, which then help us to learn how to speak humbly our self. It is very easy to get caught up in our own words and become self-absorbed. Some of the greatest prayers, “Our Father” and “Hail Mary” for example are straight from scripture and give us words of humility that are focused on God.
 
The apostles said to Jesus, “teach us to pray”.[iv]  Jesus taught all that was necessary for us to pray, He taught the apostles and He teaches us.  What things do we need to pray well?  Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Luke that three things are necessary; urgency, patience and humility.  The first deals with our time; do we pray when we get around to it?  The second deals with our trust, our endurance; do we give up after a while, maybe when we feel God has not heard us?  The third also deals with trust; do we really believe that God can provide what we need and do we come to him in the state of “need”?

The Gospel this week (30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time) and last week (29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time) contain the second and third of three parables teaching us about prayer.  “The second, ‘the importunate widow,’ is centered on one of the qualities of prayer: it is necessary to pray always without ceasing and with the patience of faith…The third parable, ‘the Pharisee and the tax collector,’ concerns the humility of the heart that prays.  ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!”  The Church continues to make this prayer its own; Kyrie eleison!”[v]  Lord have Mercy!  Christ have Mercy!  Lord have Mercy!
 
MUSIC – “Kyrie Eleison” by Mr. Mister 
 
The wind blows hard against this mountain side, across the sea into my soul.
It reaches into where I cannot hide, setting my feet upon the road.
My heart is old, it holds my memories, my body burns a gemlike flame. 
Somewhere between the soul and soft machine, is where I find myself again.
Kyrie eleison, down the road that I must travel.  Kyrie eleison, through the darkness of the night
Kyrie eleison, where I'm going will you follow.  Kyrie eleison, on a highway in the light
When I was young I thought of growing old, of what my life would mean to me.
Would I have followed down my chosen road, or only wished what I could be?

Mercy is where we begin. At the beginning of the Divine Liturgy (the Mass) we begin with the Confiteor, asking for God’s forgiveness and mercy. At the beginning of the Night Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours) we make an examination of conscience, asking for God’s mercy. “The first movement of the prayer of petition is asking forgiveness, like the tax collector in the parable: ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ It is a prerequisite for righteous and pure prayer. A trusting humility brings us back into the light of communion between the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and with one another, so that ‘we receive from him whatever we ask.’ Asking forgiveness is the prerequisite for both the Eucharistic liturgy and personal prayer.”[vi]

[i] Catechism of the Catholic Church Glossary – page 882
[ii] Saint Augustine
[iii] CCC - 2559
[iv] Luke 11:1
[v] CCC - 2613
[vi] CCC - 2631