For the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost in Year C (Proper 25): the Pharisee and the tax collector are praying at the Temple. One is so self-satisfied that he is blinded by his own glory; he outshines God. One is so self-abased that he has almost lost sight of himself; yet Jesus still sees him.
Be humble, yet let your heart be light,
for God has already lifted the lowly;
the Lord has received the repentant sinner.
God sustains the poor in spirit
and blesses the unrecognized by name.