In today’s Gospel proclamation Jesus speaks about the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector and the mindset they both had about prayer. As we read this parable let us reflect on our prayer lives. Am I like the Pharisee who projects my good deeds before the Father or am I like the Tax collector who acknowledges my sinfulness and pleads for the merciful love of the Father? It was the Tax collector who moved the heart of the Father because this is what pleases the Lord when we sit to pray, acknowledging our sinfulness and relying on the merciful love of the Father to live each day. The Lord looks at the heart and we need to have a pure and contrite heart to hear his voice as his word says “It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice”. In the first reading, Hosea urges the people to return to the Lord, to turn back from their sinful ways and to live in his presence because it is only the Lord who can deliver us from our addictions, heal our wounds and mend our hearts.

PRAYER: Abba Father, have mercy on me a sinner. In your goodness create in me a pure and contrite heart. Amen.