“For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” —Hosea 6:6
Consider the following two prayers. Which of the two more pervades the Christian world today? Which of the two best betrays the hidden intentions of your own heart?
Here is the first prayer:
God, I thank you that I am not like other people.
I thank you that I am not like the thieves.
I thank you that I am not like the adulterers.
I thank you that I am not like the rogues and hypocrites who proudly parade their own righteousness and piety yet fail to do your will.
I thank you that I am not like the heretics who twist and test your words to their own purposes for pleasure and power to excuse their depraved desires.
I thank you that I am not like those who never seek mercy but are full of themselves. I thank you that I am not like the modern-day Pharisees. I thank you that I am not like the modern-day worshippers of man.
I pray that you may forgive and show mercy to those who, thankfully, are different from me so that their hearts may be softened – that we may all be knit together as one common family and be made all alike as partners with you.
God, I thank you I am not like other people.
And now the second prayer:
God, be merciful to me, a sinner!
I have sinned even when I intended my actions for good. I have sinned without knowing the hidden intentions of my own heart.
I am the thief and the adulterer.
I am the rogue.
I am the hypocrite who proudly parades.
I am the heretic who has tested your words and twisted your grace to my own depraved ends.
I am the Pharisee and the worshipper of man.
I have failed to seek your face so now I hang my head in disgrace, unable and unworthy to even look to heaven.
For too long I have been unwilling to do your will, thinking myself worthy and able when compared to other sinners.
Yet, whether I am more or less broken than other men, I am indeed broken and in need of your grace.
Have mercy on me, my God, for I am a sinner!
So, again, consider these two prayers. Which pervades the Christian world today? Which best betrays the hidden intentions of your own heart?
Perhaps it’s both, for are not these questions the entire point of religion?
In his Word on Fire commentary on “The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector,” Bishop Robert Barron writes:
[T]he Pharisee and the tax collector—so, stereotypically righteous and unrighteous people—both enter the temple to pray (Luke 18:9-14). But what a world of difference in their manner of praying!
The entire point of religion is to make us humble before God and to open us to the path of love. Everything else is more or less a footnote. Liturgy, prayer, the precepts of the Church, the commandments, sacraments, sacramentals—all of it—is finally meant to conform us to the way of love. When they instead turn us away from that path, they have been undermined.
Both St. Paul and the Gospel writers — as well as Jesus himself, of course — are intensely aware of this danger. This is precisely why Paul speaks of the dangers of the Law. He knew that people often use the Law as a weapon of aggression: since I know what is right and wrong in some detail, then l am uniquely positioned to point out your flaws. And when I point out your flaws, I elevate myself. In short, the law, which is a gift from God, has been co-opted for the purposes of the ego. And when that happens, we're entirely missing the point of religion.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL, M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances, as well as any feedback, please email [email protected]. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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