A line from my favorite morning prayer reads: “When I am full keep me from pride.” I recall my experience many years ago of trying to learn how to ride a bicycle. Looking at other people riding a bicycle it appeared simple – at least until I took my turn on the bicycle seat. I only succeeded in peddling it a very short distance before I came tumbling down, with the bicycle resting on me. For a brief moment, while I kept the bicycle going, I recall feeling on top of the world and screaming with delight: “Look at me, I am riding a bicycle!” That experience also illustrated quite concretely a saying which I learnt in secondary school: “Pride goeth before a fall.”

We take pride in our achievements no matter how fleeting. The Pharisee in today’s gospel took pride in his ability to follow strictly and with remarkable success the prescribed codes of religious observance. We can hardly fault him for that. He applied himself to a certain discipline and took pride in his success. After all, the lizard who jumped from the Iroko tree says he would praise himself if no one else did! However, Luke finds the Pharisee’s attitude problematic because, not only did he pride himself in his virtuous observance of the law, but he also “despised everyone else” in the presence of God.