Gospel (Lk 18,9-14) - At that time, Jesus again said this parable for some who had the inner presumption of being righteous and despised others: «Two men went up to the temple to pray: one was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing, prayed to himself: «O God, I thank you because I am not like other men, thieves, unjust, adulterers, nor even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and pay tithes of everything I own." The publican, however, standing at a distance, did not even dare raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest saying: "O God, have mercy on me, a sinner". I tell you: this one, unlike the other, returned home justified, because whoever exalts himself will be humiliated, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus often speaks to his disciples about the importance of prayer. He himself offers the example: the evangelists often show Jesus in prayer. And he speaks about it frequently: he urges his disciples to persevere in prayer and to trust in God who always listens and responds. Jesus tells today's parable to condemn the presumption of those who go to the temple for prayer and think they are righteous. Jesus had just freed a man possessed by a "mute" demon. Preventing speech means strengthening or at least making the loneliness of those affected harder. Communication through words is one of the cornerstones of human life. For this reason, when this man was freed from the devil and was able to speak, people's wonder exploded. But the spirit of evil did not give up, if anything it strengthened its resistance and opposition to Jesus and the Gospel. The entire story of Jesus, and of his disciples of all times, is a story of opposition and fight against evil. In this case it was a question of freeing that man from mutism, from the inability to communicate with others. How can we not think of the sad condition of so much of humanity incapable of understanding each other, of communicating? While today it is increasingly easier to exchange news and learn about it in real time, this does not mean that it is easy to actually communicate between people, between ethnic groups, between peoples, between nations. Globalization has brought people closer together, but has not made them more brothers. Often, in fact, walls of incommunicability are raised and tensions and conflicts, sometimes dramatic, therefore grow. The prince of evil works so that division and enmity widen. The Gospel, for his part, continues to invite the disciples to be attentive and vigilant, not to lock themselves in their enclosures, so as not to leave the field open to the demon of incommunicability. Accusations and slander against Jesus and the disciples themselves are not uncommon. That's what the Pharisees did. But Jesus continues to exhort us to look at the fruits of his mission and, we can add, also those of the disciples and of the Church over the centuries. It is these works of love that testify to the presence of the "finger of God" in history. Jesus is the very presence of God in history. He is the "stronger" man than the "strong" evil one who enters the house, defeats him and disarms him. The house of which the Gospel passage speaks is the heart of each one, it is the Christian community, where love is stronger than evil. And anyone who is blind to this love actually takes the side of the enemy and in any case becomes his foolish servant. For this reason Jesus states with intransigence: "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters". However, it is necessary to be vigilant. The fight against evil will accompany us throughout our lives. It is in this sense that someone speaks of "agonic" Christianity, that is, in a continuous state of struggle. The "impure spirit", says Jesus, even if he goes out he will try to come back. Dramatic is the outcome of those who allow evil to enter their hearts through laziness and worry about vain things. This time, Jesus adds, "seven other spirits" will enter the heart. And the new condition will be worse than the first