A Missed Joy

Unless we take time to recognize our faults, we miss the joy of being redeemed transgressors.  This is why saints focus on their defects while most Catholics avoid anything like confession.  Religion for some are a few outward observances and an ethical code that one could keep who has no faith at all.  In the story of the Pharisee and the Publican, the Pharisee, a religious leader, focuses in his prayer on the good things he does.  He is well-behaved and respectable.  He is self-sufficient and thus self-satisfied.  He is contented with himself because he does not contemplate God. The broken-hearted Publican does see God in relation to self and sees how little he has returned the love that has so freely been given to him.  Welcome to Lent!