The heart of prayer is what is spoken of in today’s Gospel. Why do we come to in prayer? How do we come in prayer? Is it to gain, get receive or something else;  there are two possibilities here. God will grant you what you have asked for, or He will not give you, but both these will not profit us in the long run, because God himself will not come to us in this asking, in the sense that sincerity missing, and there is no desire to grow in God by getting acquainted with Him. Therefore the Pharisee in the Gospel had already got his reward in the sense that he was looked by to by those around him. But was He any closer to God for all his ‘piety’ and devotions?

All this season, till now we have heard in the Mass Readings, to summarise, God saying He does not seek sacrifice, He seeks our sincere desire, to come to know Him, and stay with Him, and live with Him. That is what the tax collector, in today’s Gospel reading, represents. A sincere heart, a heart desiring to know God, and at the same time knowing his mistakes, and acknowledged them. Let us like Him, everyday, approach God, and stay in God’s Presence.