The readings for this weekend, which begins a four-week period which leads up to the Great Fast, are taken from the second Letter to Timothy and the Gospel of Luke. This weekend and next draw their names from the Gospel   parables which are read. This weekend shares the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee and next weekend the parable of the Prodigal Son.

But let me start with the reading we use as our Epistle. In the second Letter to Timothy, the author states that the readers of the letter have known the sacred Scriptures – that is the Old Testament (OT) – which is the source of the wisdom which, through faith in Jesus Christ, leads to your   salvation.

What in the OT, when coupled with the belief in Jesus, can lead us to salvation? As I think about the OT, I realize that its overwhelming theme is TRUST IN GOD. The Jewish people were called to place their trust in     Yahweh. Although they repeatedly lost their trust, Yahweh always found a way to bring them back and to help them. I think that the author of Timothy was suggesting that this is the wisdom, if we apply it to Jesus Christ, that is the source of our salvation.

The Gospel reading shares this rather interesting parable. I believe that the basic theme of this Parable is that HUMILITY is the key to spiritual growth and one’s ability to truly TRUST IN GOD.

The parable pictures a man, that is the Pharisee, who is quite pleased with himself and who thinks that he complies with all the requirements of his religion. In reality he has falsified the true meaning of religion. He has reduced religion to just externals and measured his piety by the amount of money he contributed to the temple.

The Publican, on the other hand, humbles himself and his humility justifies him before God.

When a person is   truly humble, that is knows herself as she truly is, she is open to experiencing God and understanding a very important truth: without God a person is nothing. A humble person knows that he is created by God; that whatever talents and abilities he has are from God. They can help him to spiritually grow and become, in a real way, one of God’s children.

To grow in our likeness of God means that we must have a real sense of our true selves.