Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector.
All Commentaries on Luke 18:10 Go To Luke 18
Cyril of Alexandria
AD 444
What profit is there in fasting twice in the week if it serves only as a pretext for ignorance and vanity and makes you proud, haughty and selfish? You tithe your possessions and boast about it. In another way, you provoke God’s anger by condemning and accusing other people because of this. You are puffed up, although not crowned by the divine decree for righteousness. On the contrary, you heap praises on yourself. He says, “I am not as the rest of humankind.” Moderate yourself, O Pharisee. Put a door and lock on your tongue. You speak to God who knows all things. Wait for the decree of the judge. No one who is skilled in wrestling ever crowns himself. No one also receives the crown from himself but waits for the summons of the referee…. Lower your pride, because arrogance is accursed and hated by God. It is foreign to the mind that fears God. Christ even said, “Do not judge, and you shall not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.” One of his disciples also said, “There is one lawgiver and judge. Why then do you judge your neighbor?” No one who is in good health ridicules one who is sick for being laid up and bedridden. He is rather afraid, for perhaps he may become the victim of similar sufferings. A person in battle, because another has fallen, does not praise himself for having escaped from misfortune. The weakness of others is not a suitable subject for praise for those who are in health. Commentary on Luke, Homily
