A young man was very conscious of the fact that he was rather short. He made a point of dating only girls who were much shorter than he, so that he could live under the delusion of thinking of himself as being tall. This self-deception, on a much more serious scale, was one of the problems of the Pharisee in today's Gospel. His prayer, far from being a humble and honest admission of weakness, was a form of self-congratulations because he was making the wrong point of comparison. Rather than comparing himself with people who had the reputation of being grasping, crooked, and adulterous, he should have been comparing himself with God, who is perfection itself. We could be thought of as being better than some people who have no regard for religion or morals. Are we not urged to call to mind our sins at every Mass? Indeed we are sinners in comparison with the goodness of God. And it is God who should be the point of comparison since Jesus said, "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."

To stand before God with a humble, honest admission of our imperfection is the key to true, effective prayer. Notice that the Pharisee's "prayer" was a nauseous mixture of pride and self-complacency. He asked for nothing from God, and he gave nothing in return. The tax collector asked for mercy and he received justification from God. If our prayer is to be effective, it must begin with a plea for mercy.