We Start With Ourselves

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The Publican and Pharisee

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon 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 that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.- Luke 18:10-14, KJV

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Several years ago, I attended a dialog meeting led by Catholic and Orthodox priests here in Minneapolis. I do not remember the topic. During the Q&A time, someone in the audience complained about the moral decadence in our society. Asserting claims originally made by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, this person insisted that God had allowed 911 terrorist attack to take place because of "homosexuals and abortion" in the U.S. But one of the Orthodox priests, gently, but with firm authority, rebuked him, and said "we in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions start with ourselves. We do not look at other people's sins, but our own... we begin with our own sin, and our own repentance (approximate wording)." I will never forget this event, and the priest's wise words.

During the season of Great Lent, Eastern Orthodox Christians pray every day the prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian:

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, lust of power, and idle talk;

But grant rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to thy servant.

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages.

Every Sunday morning, at the Divine Liturgy, before receiving the Holy Mysteries of Our Lord's Body and Blood, Eastern Orthodox Christians pray aloud with St. Paul: "I believe O Lord, and I confess that thou art truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who didst come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." (Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, taken from 1 Timothy 1:14-15).

The Christian who prays the prayer of St. Ephrem or the words of the Apostle should begin with his or her own sins, not those of others. Consider the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in St. Matthew's Gospel:

And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. - Matthew 5.3-5

In our attempts to cultivate humility, we should also bear in mind the words of St. Paul: "in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." - Philippians 2.3b
The great thing about Christianity, the Gospel, and the love of God is: we can always start over; we can always start anew, and begin again.