Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Saturday of the third week in ordinary time, March 14th, 2026

Delivered by Christine Gunawan from the Parish of Saint Joseph Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Pontianak, Indonesia. Hosea 6: 1-6; Rs psalm 51: 3-4.18-19.20-21ab; Luke 18: 9-14.GOD PLEASES THE HUMBLE Our meditation today is entitled: God Pleases theHumble. Humility is in the central point of truth in our Christian faith, thatdescribes ourselves as incomplete or imperfect human beings. So it reallyrequires the other party to complete ourselves. Our fellowmen always play theirdifferent roles to complete what are lacking in us. For believers, God is the Onewho is the source of all helps and providence. God knows so well the real situation of His children,some of them are humble and some are arrogant or proud. Those who are humble,He completes them with the graces to fill up what are still lacking in them.Those who are proud or arrogant obviously do not need anything else to completein themselves. They are already full and perfect, so all they need is praise,respect, fame, and good name. The distinction between humility and pride can be seenin various aspects of life. The language we use and choice of words are enoughto indicate who is humble and who is arrogant. The body language we show, ourclothes, the food or drinks we consume, and relationships among people are veryobvious examples to indicate if someone is sincere as a humble person orinstead the arrogant one. Our liturgical readings today illustrate aspects ofprayer or expressions of our faith. In our prayers or being in the presence ofGod we can be seen either humble or arrogant persons. The Gospel of Lukedisplays the presence of humility in the tax collector who felt that he didhave relationship with God. But this relationship was already damaged by hissins. Thus, his prayer was full of guilt feeling, regret, confession of sins,and asking for forgiveness. In his humility, he knows the merciful God was pleasingto hear, accept, and forgive him. On the other hand, the presence of arrogance is in thePharisee who knew that he had indeed a relationship with God, but thatrelationship is like a relationship between friends. They are like on the samelevel, which is equally good, beautiful, and perfect. Like the peers usuallydo, the Pharisee revealed all his qualities with the intention to be praisedand respected by God whom he considered the same level as he. Jesus said thatthis kind of arrogance was clearly not pleasing to God and not obtaining Hismercy. The key to being humble is as the prophet Hosea saystoday: our prayers and offerings must be our genuine love for God, and not toexpose ourselves.Let'spray. In the name of the Father … Almighty God, make us humble in our words andactions every day, that we may become your instruments for our Salvation. HailMary, full of grace... In the name of the Father ...