I once tried to think of an instance of seeing a speck in another’s eye and not seeing the beam in your own. I turned to another passage from Luke’s Gospel, where Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee in the Temple.
If you remember this story, the Pharisee was busy pointing out the specks in everyone else’s eye—in particular, the tax collector praying beside him. He never stopped to consider his own life or his own faults. It didn’t even cross his mind that he might be wrong, or that God could be displeased with him.
He began his prayer with, “God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of my kind—robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of all I gain.” He was full of self-importance, proud of his righteousness.
In contrast, the tax collector simply prayed a humble cry for pity: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Jesus tells us that it was the tax collector who went home justified before God, not the Pharisee. The man who admitted his sins was the one who pleased God; the man who boasted of his goodness was not.
The difference wasn’t that the Pharisee was lying, or that the tax collector was being more truthful. In fact, the Pharisee did everything he said he did. He followed all the rules and perhaps even went beyond what his faith required.
So, where did he go wrong?
He focused only on his list of good deeds, comparing himself to others with disdain. He saw the flaws in everyone else but never looked at his own pride. He noticed the speck in others’ eyes but was blind to the beam of arrogance in his own.
Jesus teaches us that if we want to see what truly saves and delights God, we should look at the tax collector. The tax collector stood in a position that God admires—he trusted in God’s mercy, not in his own deeds. He didn’t measure himself against others; he didn’t even dare raise his eyes to Heaven. He only prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
So, what does this story mean for us today?
It’s OK to pray like the Pharisee, at least in part. We can thank God for our blessings. We can mention the good things we do—our attendance at Mass, our efforts to serve the poor, our attempts to live by His commandments. These aren’t bad things to say. But we must also remember the need for mercy. We are all sinners, and we must give thanks for God’s great mercy and love. Without acknowledging God’s mercy and admitting our own sinfulness, our good works count for nothing.
Throughout history, we have all too often fallen into the same trap as the Pharisee. The privileged look down on the less fortunate. Prejudice divides us, and we’re quick to judge others.
Jesus reminds us that judgment is God’s alone, not ours. Perhaps our attitude should be: “Thank you, God, that I am like everyone else. I’ve been shaped in Your image, with a mind to understand and a heart to love. I thank You that, despite our many differences, we all share in Your love and mercy. I am wonderfully and fearfully human. Keep me that way, Lord. And be merciful to me, a sinner.”
