February 2, 2020
Luke 18:10-14 – “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, `God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, `God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." (RSV)
Don't Hide from Yourself - To sustain my mask before others takes much energy. One clever way to maintain my mask and to avoid seeing myself as I am is to continuously compare my actions with the actions of those persons whom I consider less than myself. And into what a clever trap I have fallen, for I will always find someone whose outward actions appear to fall short of mine. I will constantly be looking outward toward others and never inward at the movements of my own heart. I will have taken upon myself the heart of the Pharisee, puffed up with emptiness, judgmental and condemning, while thanking God that I am not like another. I will have taken upon myself the heart of the Pharisee, but because of my mask, I will only know myself as the Publican. (Sister Seraphim Olsafsky)
The icon is of the Publican and the Pharisee.
