Dear Parishioners,

In today’s Gospel, our Lord relates the parable in which he contrasts a self-serving, proud Pharisee with a humble, repentant tax collector. The observant Pharisee took a prominent place in the Temple and prayed with the focus not on God but on himself with a litany of self-praise. The tax collector, despised by the people, stood at a distance in the Temple, not even raising his eyes. He arrived at the Temple to acknowledge his sin, his brokenness, and need for God.    

Reflecting on this scene, Pope Benedict XVI observed: “We modern narcissists would do well to imitate the tax collector: Be aware that we are sinners, but focus on God’s love and mercy which is infinitely greater than our sin.” St. Therese of Lisieux, the “Little Flower” expresses it this way: “The very moment God sees us fully convinced of our nothingness, he reaches out his hand to us.”  
 
It is a scene that helps us understand and appreciate how God reaches out his hand to raise us up when we come to the Sacrament of Penance, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is precisely in that experience that we realize that “God’s love and mercy…is infinitely greater than our sin.”
 
Been away from Confession for a while? The Lord is waiting for YOU!

Chè pawasyen,

Nan levanjil jodia, Granmèt nou an rakonte parabòl kote li mete fas a fas yon Farizyen ki plen ògèy ak yon prepoze kontribisyon ki genyen imilite e ki vle konvèti. Farizyen sa a te genyen yon gwo plas nan Tan plan e li ap lapriyè san li pa konsantre l sou Bondye, li sonsantre l sou tèt li, pandan li fè elòj tèt pa li. Prepoze kontribisyon an, menm pèp la te meprize la, rete byen lwen nan Tan plan san li pa ka leve je l. Li te vini nan Tan plan pou li rekonèt peche l, feblès li ak gwo bezwen Bondye li te genyen nan lavi l.  

Pap Benwa XVI ki tap reflechi sou sènn sa sa fe remak sa a : « Nou menm ki se nasisik modèn, sa vle moun ki wè pwòp tèt yo, ta fè pi byen pou imite prepoze kontribisyon an : pran konsyans nou se pechè, men konsantre nou sou lanmoun ak mizèrikòd Bondye, ki pi gran lontan pase peche nou. » Sent Thérèse de Lisieux, « Tiflè » di li konsa : « Kou Bondye wè nou konvenki ke nou pa vo anyen, li lonje men l ban ou. »
 
Sènn sa ede ede nou konprann e apresye fason Bondye lonje men ba nou pou li leve nou lè nou apwoche sakreman penitans, sakreman rekonsilyasyon an. Se prezizeman nan eksperyans sa a nou reyalize ke « remen ak mizèrikòd Bondye…. pi gran lontan pase peche nou. » 
 
Ou pa konfese depi lontan ? Granmèt la ap tann nou !  

Religion cannot be separated from life, either in theory or in daily reality.
∼St. Jose Maria Escriva