“Open to me the doors of repentance….” sings the Church at Matins today for this first of our four Sundays which prepare us for Great Lent.   Indeed, this Sunday could be thought of as a door:  a door which opens into the atmosphere of repentance, to that life of repentance which Great Lent is designed to bring to each of us.

In the Gospel reading today, two men go to the Temple to pray.  One was a Pharisee who scrupulously observed the requirements of religion: he prayed, fasted, and contributed funds to the Temple.  These are very good things, and should be imitated by anyone who loves God.  We who may not fulfill these requirements as well as the Pharisee did should not feel entitled to criticize him for being faithful.  His transgression is in looking down on the Publican and feeling justified because of his external religious observances.  The second man is a Publican, a tax-collector who was despised by the people.  He, however, displays humility, and this humility justifies him before God.  The lesson to be learned is that we possess neither the Pharisee’s religious piety, nor the Publican’s repentance, through which we can be saved.  We are called to see ourselves as we really are in the light of Christ’s teaching, asking him to be merciful to us, deliver us from sin, and to lead us on the path of salvation.