THE PRAYER OF THE SINNER.Last Sunday’s Gospel told of the determined struggle of a good person, a widow, for justice. Through this story Jesus teaches that God hears the persistent cries of the just. In today’s Gospel it is a sinner who prays to God for mercy and, wonderfully, God hears the sinner’s humble prayer also. The only prayer to which God cannot respond is that of the self-righteous who effectively says to God: ‘I do not need you.’