10 March 2018
Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
Is there any patron saint for the protection of the self-righteous? I do not think that there is such a patron saint for self-righteousness. For Christians who are self-righteous, they flatter themselves with whatever righteousness he may possess, he can only rely on God’s grace to overcome them in addition to his own efforts to grow in virtues. Nonetheless, in my humble opinion, there is a saint that can be a model for us to grow in virtue. We know that once Jesus is born, Joseph gets pushed into the background. Throughout the entire New Testament, Joseph does not utter a single word. We only hear of him again when Jesus is referred to as “the carpenter’s son.” It is commonly known that Joseph made a living as a carpenter and that he was a righteous man, never boasting about his righteousness. I do not want to run the risk of speculating, but we can draw some conclusions about his moral character, that St. Joseph is a trustworthy and humble man.
In the Gospel reading today, we hear the story of a Pharisee who smugly gives thanks for not being like others in his community, particularly the tax collectors, who are greedy, dishonest and adulterous. He believes his fasting twice a week and paying tithes make him a righteous person. Is there any equivalent to this Pharisee’s self-perceived righteousness in our modern day? Perhaps, during this Lenten season, it is time for us to reflect on our social media’s righteousness. Social media’s righteousness can take on many different forms. It can build walls of moral superiority around hashtags and threads. One can be chastised for not Tweeting about something fast enough or sharing a political statement on Facebook. Instead of sharing our thoughts on social media, we can try to save the majority of our righteous mind for long writing, private conversations with friends in person or on the phone, or a personal letters and emails.
During the remainder of the Lenten season, we can challenge ourselves to explore our self-righteousness. When we find ourselves starting to feel better than others, let us pray for humility. Let us pray for the grace to be like the tax collector, who was overwhelmed by his own identity as a sinner.