It is easy and not unpleasant to have one eye open to our virtues and the other closed to our faults.  This parable puts us right – one eye on our faults and both eyes on God.

For the Christian religion is a personal relationship with God in which there is no place for preening oneself on being a good or useful member of the Church.  One may be both, but it is not for oneself to pay any attention to that, nor to look to others to do so.  The only self-regard that is required of us is self-examination.

We are familiar with the words, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only and my soul shall be healed”.  We can also truthfully say, “Lord, I am not worthy that I should come under thy roof, but speak the word only and my soul shall be healed”.

For although it is true that God has need of us in one direction or another, it is equally true that however well we meet his need, we confer no favour on him.  As Our Blessed Lord himself put it, “…when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’ ” (RSV, Luke 17:10).

No, our attitude has to be that of the tax-collector.  He was desperately conscious of his own unworthiness to enjoy any relationship with God.  And at the same time he was filled with an aching need for that relationship.  It was that sense of unworthiness and that aching need which together made him acceptable to God.  And it is only so that we in our turn can be acceptable to him also.