Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Homily by Fr. Yuriy Tychenok on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee
January 20, 2024
Through the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, you and I got a chance to become heirs of the Kingdom of God, and we manifest our full potential through our actions.
Nowadays, it is not easy to find a good job, especially for young people who have neither work experience nor acquaintances to help. Every employer is looking for employees who know their work well, are responsible, honest, punctual, know how to behave decently in a team and work with people.
It is such people that the Lord God is looking for in His Kingdom and that is why He sent His Son Jesus Christ to us, who in turn founded the Church. Therefore, our belonging to the Church of Christ, co-responsibility for what is happening in our parish Church, help, support, joint prayer and participation in the Divine Liturgy every Sunday and feast days are a kind of experience necessary for entering the Kingdom of God.
The task of the Church of Christ is to enlighten all peoples, not only to teach, but first of all to illuminate human hearts with love for God and neighbours. Through our joint work and prayer, we develop in our hearts such qualities as compassion, patience, sincere joy and responsibility for one another.
Very often we can hear from people words similar to those prayed by the Pharisee in today’s Gospel. I don’t want to go to church and see all those people; I’d rather pray at home, because people are unkind, envious, slander and only go to the Church for show. Perhaps there are many such people in every community, but even if so, we should try to change them, and not run away from such people.
Through the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, you and I got a chance to become heirs of the Kingdom of God, and we manifest our full potential through our actions. Therefore, the Pharisee from today’s Gospel is partly an example to follow: he always went to the Temple of God, prayed, fasted, gave alms to the poor and paid tithes from his income. However, his huge mistake was that he did it thinking only about himself, and his prayer is a confirmation of this. Instead, the publican’s prayer came from the depths of his heart. He understood that he was sinful and asked the Almighty for help. Such a prayer is pleasant to God and has great power. The Lord is our primary boss, whom we must serve faithfully, love sincerely, and trust completely. He alone has the power to enlighten and change human hearts.
May this sincere prayer of the publican help us to become worthy workers in the “Vineyard of Christ” and receive as a reward eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Amen!
