Today’s Gospel reading presents us with two typical kinds of people: a Pharisee and a publican, both of whom are praying in the temple. They are the exact opposites of the society of the time. One was pious and righteous in the eyes of the people, an expert on the Law, a member of the group of the Pharisees, who were the leading religious class. The other was a representative of the class of sinners, of those whose profession was synonymous with rapacity, violence and swindling people out of their possessions. In the view of the whole of society at that time, a publican was the worst of sinners. So what do these two people say in their prayer? Let’s look ...
