On Judgment Day each of us will stand before our just and merciful Judge as either a Pharisee or a tax collector.
I am a recovering Pharisee. For years I attended Mass merely as part of my Sunday routine. I arrogantly assumed that I knew more than the Church did on many issues, especially regarding artificial birth control. I had not used the Sacrament of Reconciliation in fifteen years because I was blind to my own sins.
By God's grace, a friend put this booklet you are now reading into my hands. I had a life-changing encounter with the living God which caused me to exclaim with Isaiah the prophet, "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a" person "of unclean lips" (Is 6:5).
Once I allowed the Holy Spirit to convict me of my sins, He became my Counselor and gave my "heart grace for repentance and conversion" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1433).
I invite you to join me as I leave the Pharisee's pew to sit with the tax collector. Humble yourself "in the sight of the Lord" (Jas 4:10). Beat your breast and cry out: "Oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner" (Lk 18:13). Receive new life in Jesus (Jn 10:10).
| PRAYER: | Father, give my heart grace for repentance and conversion. |
| PROMISE: | "Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled while he who humbles himself shall be exalted." –Lk 18:14 |
| PRAISE: | St. Patrick forgave and evangelized the people who previously enslaved him. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College