Hosea 5:15-6:6 / Luke 18:9-14
Stories are generally nice to listen to because stories can be entertaining and motivating and enlightening.
But today's story would be one that is rather uncomfortable to listen to, because it comments on us, on our spirituality, on our relationship with God and on how we look at others.
It is not exactly nice to think that we are like the Pharisee who goes to the Temple to pray "to himself".
We may have done the similar thing during prayer by forgetting about God and thinking too much about ourselves and about what we want.
So after prayer, it is good to ask ourselves if we did pray to God or did we "entertain" ourselves. But usually after prayer we just rush off to do the next thing.
As in the 1st reading, the people prayed to God in their misery but yet they prayed with a certain arrogance and self-interest, but they were not repentant and did not ask why such misery fell on them.
Yet prayer is not a time for self-condemnation. Jesus wants us to be humble and to be honest and sincere before the Lord.
It is a humble, honest and sincere heart that acknowledges God's mercy and compassion, and that He wants to save us and not to condemn us.
Before God, we can only say "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" and truly repent.
Today's gospel parable is also the story of our lives.