When you recite the Our Father at Mass, what do you do with your hands? The priest prays with his hands extended, but what about laypeople?

Do you clasp your hands and place them on your chest, keep them at your sides, raise them heavenward, or join hands with the person next to you? While this may seem trivial, it has become a contentious issue in some dioceses. However, more important than our external actions during the liturgy is our “spiritual posture,” which remains central to our worship.

In Jesus’ parable, the Pharisee prays with an “arrogant posture,” while the tax collector bows his head and beats his chest—a sign of humility.

The latter, with a contrite heart, acknowledges his insufficiency before God. As Thomas Merton says, true prayer cannot be separated from humility.

“Come, let us return to the Lord, it is he who has rent, but he will heal us; he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds. He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, to live in his presence.

Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord; as certain as the dawn is his coming, and his judgment shines forth like the light of day! He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth.”

What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your piety is like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away.

For this reason I smote them through the prophets, I slew them by the words of my mouth; for it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

“It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.”

Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.

“Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’

“But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’

“I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”