Ecclesiasticus 35:12-14, 16-19 / 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 / Luke 18:9-14
The month of October can be called the “R&R” month. So what does “R&R” mean? Is it rest and recreation, or is it rest and relaxation?
That would be nice actually - rest, relaxation and recreation. But those are the kind of things we can think of doing only upon retirement.
But back to what “R&R” means. For students, and they can forget about retirement for now, “R&R” means revision and results.
October is the month for revision, as the year-end exams are looming. May St. Jude help those who are desperately revising and feeling hopeless.
And for the students who have taken the PSLE exams, October is the month to start praying for good results, as the PSLE results will be out in a month’s time.
So whether desperately revising or waiting anxiously and nervously for the PSLE results, it would be very helpful to pray to Saint Jude, patron saint for desperate cases. Saint Jude’s feast day is tomorrow, Monday, 28th of October.
So that’s why October can be called the “R&R” month. It is the month for revision, it is also the month to be prepared for results.
As much as revision and results seem to be the main concern for students, revision and results go beyond from school life to working life, from studying to making a living.
There are other words, like assessment and appraisal, but in essence it is a revision, or a review, so as to see what are the improvements that can be made in order to achieve the desired results.
But more than just for schooling and making a living, a review and a revision of life can help us to grow and to live life well, especially in the spiritual aspect.
In the gospel, Jesus told a parable of two men who went up to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee’s prayer was more like a review of his state of life and his good deeds.
He was like an “A” student and scored top marks for praying, fasting, paying tithes, and for keeping the Commandments.
So that Pharisee did pretty well. But only according to himself. We wonder who he was praising, God or himself. And we know what is said about self-praise.
And when Jesus told this parable, He made it a point to say this: The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself.
It is strange to say prayers to yourself. It is like praying to yourself. Can that be called prayer in the first place, if the prayer is just to yourself?
So the Pharisee was actually talking to himself in prayer.
Whereas the tax collector was talking to God, and his prayer was simple: God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
And Jesus concluded the parable by saying that the tax collector went home at rights with God, but the Pharisee did not.
And through the parable, Jesus teaches us again that anyone who exalts himself will be humbled and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.
And through the parable, Jesus invites us to review our prayer life and the results of our prayer.
It is rather embarrassing to realize that there are times that we are talking to ourselves in prayer. That is like praying to ourselves, and if our prayer is not answered, then we should know why. Because we are like coming before God, but not talking to Him, but talking to ourselves.
Yet, we learned something from the tax collector’s prayer: God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
God loves a humble sinner, and God is merciful to those who have failed in life, those who are desperate and in despair. God comes to those who need Him.
And when we are desperate, and despair and feeling hopeless, then the saint to turn to is Saint Jude, whose feast day is tomorrow.
Saint Jude knows what is despair and desperation.
He has the same name as the man who betrayed Jesus. So devotion to St. Jude began much later and was slow to pick up.
And then, a for a time, between the 13th century to the 18th century, he was revered, but persecution broke out, and devotion to him fizzled out.
It revived again in the 1920s during the Great Depression, when people were desperate, and in despair and feeling hopeless, but they found God’s mercy through devotion to Saint Jude.
And Saint Jude will pray for us, if we are humble enough to ask him.
And through Saint Jude, let us humbly make this prayer: O God, have mercy on me, a sinner.