In the Gospel for today from the 18th chapter of the Gospel of St Luke, two people are praying silently-a Pharisee and a publican. The Pharisee is a devout Jew who seeks to follow every aspect of the Law. The publican is not someone who owns a pub. He is a very wealthy Roman aristocrat who is a tax collector, as well as a member of the Roman equite class-that is, a member of the equestrian class, in charge of horses and cavalry. He would be a wealthy landowner who would already have paid the Roman Emperor 100,000 denari-the equivalent of 100,000 day’s wages, more than four and a half million pounds or six million dollars today. The publican was a very important and very wealthy person, possibly a non-observant Jew.

Now, this publican lowered his head, beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus Christ was impressed by the publican; and He said: “I tell you, this man [the publican] went down to his house justified [that is, forgiven and set right with God] rather than the other [the Pharisee]; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and [those] who humble [themselves] will be exalted.” In other words, if we seek to show others how important we are, we will be humbled. We will be told, either by God or by others: “You are not as important as you think you are. You are proud.” However, when we are humble, then the Lord prepares us and raises us up for the work that He has for each of us to do.

When we are humble, we open ourselves up to God’s love. As one Biblical commentator has phrased it: when we are humble we “are able to experience the blessings that [God] has for all who will submit completely to Him.” To experience those blessings, we have to be self-effacing, that is we have to avoid trying to make others aware of our achievements and presence. This deep humility that the publican showed was also evident in the lives of the two saints that we celebrate today. Both are very humble-St Ephraim the Syrian and St Isaac the Syrian.

In the fourth century, St Ephraim wrote in Syriac; and he expressed his theology largely in hymns and in poetry. In Hymn 16 on the Nativity, St Ephraim wrote and sang as if Holy Mary were addressing her Son, Jesus Christ, with these words: “I shall not be jealous, my Son, that You are both with me and with everyone. Be God to the one who confesses you,” she sang. “And be Lord to the one who serves You, and be brother to the one who loves You, so that you might save all [people].” That’s the opening line of the hymn: Holy Mary accepts Jesus Christ as He is and she urges us to confess to Him, to serve Him and to love Him.

Line 4 sets out a remarkable understanding of how each of us can live with Jesus Christ. Holy Mary continued: “‘Have You shown your beauty in two images to me alone?’” She answers, ‘No.’ “‘Let bread and the mind portray You. Dwell in bread and in those who eat it. In hidden and revealed [form] let Your Church see You as [does] the one who bore You.’” A note on that verse by Kathleen McVey in Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns sets out how after the Incarnation there are now two ways of knowing God-through receiving the Eucharist and through our minds. In a sense, we can also know God through trusting Him and through our prayers. For further study of St Ephrem read his poems, available on the web by searching for “Nineteen Hymns of the Nativity by St Ephraem” (especially Hymn 16) or watch and listen to a video of a lecture by Sebastian Brock from the Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge at: https://vimeo.com/61259267.

The second saint we celebrate today, St Isaac the Syrian, is also known as St Isaac of Nineveh, because for a short time in the 7th century he was Bishop of Nineveh in what is now northern Iraq.  St Isaac was a remarkable person of great compassion, of great love for any person or animal in trouble. Let me give just one example-his advice on how to grow a compassionate heart: “An elder was once asked, ‘what is a compassionate heart?’” St Isaac replied: “It is a heart on fire for the whole of creation, for humanity, for the birds, for the animals, [even] for demons and for all that exists. At the recollection and at the sight of [anyone in need] the eyes of [a person with a compassionate heart] overflow with tears owing to the vehemence [that is, the great strength] of the compassion which grips the heart. As a result of [their] deep mercy [their] hearts shrink and cannot bear to hear or look at any injury or the slightest suffering of anything in creation. This is why [they] constantly offer up prayers full of tears, even for the irrational animals and for the enemies of truth, even for those who harm [them], so that they may be protected and find mercy.”

Let’s pause for a moment and ask ourselves: how can I increase my compassion-my love for God, my love for others, my love for creation itself? We can begin simply by being humble, just as the publican was humble before God. Sebastian Brock has written of St Isaac in a little book, Daily Readings with St Isaac of Syria (Templegate Publishers, 1989): “For [St Isaac] humility is much more than a moral quality. It is the essential characteristic of God Himself as He wills to become Incarnate for the salvation of the world. God Himself is infinitely humble, in his dealings with creation. When His creatures become humble, then they become truly like Him. They become as it were transparent. All His glory shines through them, and all things come together in peace around them [end of quote].”

So, as humility grows in us, that humility itself does indeed teach us to be transparent within ourselves-to see and know who we are-Orthodox Christians in love with God and with each other. Transparency begins with being honest within ourselves and being humble. In The Book of a Thousand Prayers (Harper Collins, 1996) Angela Ashwin sets out an anonymous prayer-no source known-that offers a good place to begin as we seek to be humble and compassionate. The prayer is: “Save me, Lord, from the distraction of trying to impress others, and from the dangers of having done so. Help me to enjoy praise for work well done, and then to pass it on to You. Teach me to learn from criticism, and give me the wisdom not to put myself at the centre of the universe.” It’s the last line of that prayer that offers the key to growing humility and compassion. Place God, not ourselves, at the centre of the universe.

That is how to grow a compassionate heart. That’s how the publican behaved before God. That’s how we can relate to God and to each other, with compassionate hearts that see and face suffering and illness and problems either in our own lives or in the lives of others.