Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner

In a little story that is this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells about two people who have come to the temple. Each of them is focused (obsessed?) with sin. One of them prays about the sins of others. Another focuses upon his own sin. Luke says that Jesus told this parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector as a way of turning the tables on our idealized self-image of ourselves as basically good, righteous, religious people.