Last week, if you came to Church, you would have heard Jesus telling us to “pray continually and never lose heart.” He reminded us persevering in prayer, because prayer is not just for hard times, it is not just when we need God we start to pray — it’s a way of living for our life. Keep trusting. Keep knocking the door. Keep speaking to God who loves us.

But this week, Jesus takes one step deeper. He is teaching us how to pray — with the right attitude. Because prayer is not just about what we say — but the attitude of our heart: a heart that is humble, honest, and open before God.

Let us reflect on this question:

• When we pray, what’s truly in our heart?
• Am I trying to convince God how good I am or humble myself?
• Am I judging or trusting?
• Am I trying to prove myself, or am I opening myself to grace?

Because prayer reveals our attitude. And attitude can tell us everything.

The way we pray often reflects the way we live. If our heart is proud or judging, our prayer becomes about ourselves. But when we come before Him with a humble and honest heart, prayer begins to shape us, transform us, and open us. God doesn’t need to change — it’s we who are need to change by His grace.

So let us look at these two characters, the Pharisee and the tax collector from today’s gospel:

• The Pharisee.

He’s not a bad man — he’s religious, disciplined, faithful, fasting twice a week, but something has gone wrong inside.

He stands before God, but he’s full of himself. He thanks God, yes — but he thanks God that he’s better than others.

And I think we can all fall into that sometimes. We compare and we judge not just in prayers, — it’s also in our daily life.

At school, you see others getting better marks, studying faster, understanding everything easily. And quietly we think, “Why can’t I be like them?” Or another side: “I think I’m smarter than them.”           Maybe at work, we think, “I work harder than everyone else — why don’t they appreciate me?”            Even in parish life — “I’ve been serving here for 20 years; I know better than them. Or At least I’m not like that person who never helps, never comes to church.”

Even in families, faith can become something we compare, instead of something we share. I’ve seen it in my own family too, and I’d like to share that with you.

I have three uncles. Two of them joined the Patriotic Church, while another uncle and my parents stayed in the underground Church. When I was younger, I didn’t have much connection with my relatives because of we go to different churches, different understandings of faith.

During family gatherings, especially at Lunar New Year, I could not remember how happy we gather, but just remember the arguments and fighting. They would start discussing faith — who is right and who is wrong, who followed the true Church and who didn’t. They never thought they followed the same God.

Even my uncle would say, “Because I remained faithful to God in the underground church, He has blessed my family more.”

Of course, I can see he is strong and faithful in his mind— but that attitude, looking back, wasn’t right.

At that time, I didn’t really understand. But now, when I hear today’s Gospel, I realize how easy it is for our faith to become pride, or how we can feel jealous when God blesses others.

It’s dangerous when we have these thoughts because pride always covers itself as goodness. We start to compare faith instead of sharing faith. We think we’re being holy, but we have started judging others. When we start to judge each other, we stop sharing love with each other. And when that happens, something is lost — peace disappears, prayer stops, and humility is gone.

Because when our heart is full of judgment, there’s no room left for mercy. When we hold on being right all the time, we forget to listen. And when we stop listening — to God and to one another — we stop praying with our hearts.

That’s what I learned from my family’s story.

• The Tax collector:

Then we meet the tax collector.
He doesn’t even dare to raise his eyes to heaven.
He simply says, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

That’s all. No long speech. No defence. No explanation. But his heart is fully opened. That one short prayer holds everything — because two message we can see the truth about himself, and the hope in God’s mercy.

And Jesus says, he went home justified. That means — forgiven, changed, renewed. Why?  Because humility opens the door for grace. God can fill what is empty, but He cannot fill what is already full of itself.

It’s like when you go to a big family dinner. You’ve already eaten too much — but then someone brings out dessert. And you say, “Oh no, I’m full!” It doesn’t matter how good it looks — you just can’t take another piece!

But when you come hungry, really hungry — suddenly everything tastes amazing. You enjoy it, and you’re grateful for everything you have got.

It’s the same with our hearts. When we come to God already full of ourselves — full of pride, full of judgment — there’s no space for His grace. But when we come hungry — hungry for mercy, hungry for love — that is the time God can fills us.

Now, let’s think about ourselves.  In our heart: “Who am I — the Pharisee or the tax collector?” No matter who we are, let’s remember: God isn’t looking for perfect people — He’s looking for honest hearts.

So let’s be people of humble hearts — not proud, not comparing, not judging — but honest before God and be gentle before one another.

When we pray, we also try just whisper one sentence, “Lord, have mercy on me.” Say it when you wake up. when you drive. when you face something hard. when you don’t know what else to pray.

And when we pray like that, we too — like the tax collector — will go home justified, renewed, and deeply loved by God.

Amen.