God answers: The cry of those in need

	Word to Life  Sharon K. Perkins

Years ago when I worked providing pastoral care in a psychiatric hospital, I learned about healthy and unhealthy behaviors that were observed by the hospital staff as markers of a patient's progress or regression.

One of the more unfavorable signs was "attention-seeking" behavior. Usually it meant that the patient, insecure and fearful, would eschew desirable tools of self-reliance for more manipulative means to get his or her emotional needs met by the staff, often at the expense of other patients.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007) Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 Psalm 34:2-3, 17-19, 23 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Luke 18:9-14

Outside the confines of the hospital, there's a maxim that's frequently used to describe complainers who persist until they eventually get their way: "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

When employed by those who believe that silent suffering is preferable to whining, the saying implies that relentless complaint and protest are devices used by the selfish, the immature, and the egocentric. It also implies that attention and service are in short supply, so one should compete for them in any way one can.

But sometimes the squeaky wheel really needs greasing. There are people whose situations are dire and whose complaints are truly justified. And - as indicated in today's readings - those complaints are heard, and answered, by a God who "knows no favorites" but nonetheless responds with justice to the cries of widows, orphans, and the poor. And there doesn't seem to be any shortage of God's attention to those in distress; there's plenty to go around.

In today's Gospel, Jesus offers a parable that illustrates two kinds of attention-seekers. The Pharisee, taking the more conspicuous position in the Temple, trusts in his own devices by pointing out at the expense of others what he has done to deserve God's notice. But the tax collector, admitting his sinfulness and trusting in God's compassion, prays in a way that truly gets God's attention.

In his plea for mercy he avoids both extremes - he neither boasts of his virtue nor suffers in silence, but he approaches God with an attitude of confident humility.

	Reflection question • When was the last time you truly complained to God about something?

When taken with Luke's previous story of the complaining widow and the dishonest judge, this parable teaches the importance of meek but persistent prayer. To God's ears, a cry for help from a contrite heart is heard. In God's world the squeaky wheel really does get the grease.

This column is offered in cooperation with the North Texas Catholic of Fort Worth, Texas.