NOVEMBER 3^rd 2013. THIRTY FIRST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

GOSPEL: LUKE 19:1-10

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

GOSPEL: LUKE 19:1-10

At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. 
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature. 
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house." 
And he came down quickly and received him with joy. 
When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
"He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." 
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over."
And Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. 
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost."

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . Zacchaeus is a man who has spent his life “climbing” over the heads of others. Despite his success, he is despised by his contemporaries. We crave success, thinking that people will think well of us as a result. But the greater our worldly success, the more we are despised by others. Just as Jesus looked differently on the reviled Zacchaeus, so too he looks differently on each one of us. The vainglory of this world tries to create us in a particular image, but Jesus sees us in a deeper way. He searches for the “son of Abraham” in us. He looks for the beautiful and just person that lies buried in our hearts. Chastising someone’s errors never leads to a real transformation of the person. What Jesus does is “enter our house” showing how much he respects us and values us. This causes us (and Zacchaeus) to rediscover the beauty and goodness that already lies within. Zacchaeus is inspired by Jesus’ visit to perform acts of great beauty and justice. We too, when we realize that Jesus values our beauty and makes his home with us, will be inspired to discover the justice and righteousness buried in our hearts.

Zacchaeus is a man who has spent all his life “climbing” over the heads of others

The Gospel this week places before us the figure of Zacchaeus, the chief of the tax collectors who wishes to see Jesus. Zacchaeus is an important man and he wishes to see this other important man – Jesus- who is passing through Jericho. The chief tax collector is small in stature, so he climbs up a sycamore tree in order to see better. In those days, the tax collector was a legally-sanctioned bully who used his position to instill fear and respect in the population. Sometimes it is the case that people who have physical limitations are psychologically driven to assert themselves and attain power in other ways. The act of climbing the sycamore tree might be symbolic of the entire life of Zacchaeus. He wishes to climb higher than anyone else, to be in an advantageous position with respect to others.

Jesus is compelled to stop at the house of Zacchaeus. It is God’s will that Jesus seek out sinners

Jesus sees him and says, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly because today I must stay at your house.” Why “must” Jesus stay at the house of Zacchaeus? From where does this pressing obligation derive? The only thing that Jesus is obliged to do is go to Jerusalem, suffer his passion and death, and rise after three days. Jesus must fulfill the will of the Father. In fulfilling this will, Jesus, apparently, must pass by the house of this unpleasant “climber”, Zacchaeus – a dishonest and aggressive man who has placed himself on the side of evil. There is something in the will of God that requires that Jesus stop by this man’s house. Where does the Lord stop, usually? Where does he have his dwelling? God resides in glory. It seems bizarre that the God who lives in glory should feel compelled to stop at the house of the most dishonest man in the locality.

Zacchaeus was successful but was despised by his neighbours. We crave success, thinking that it will lead others to think well of us. But worldly success only leads people to despise us

For the people of the locality Zacchaeus was a sinner, full stop. The text tells us that the people grumbled that Jesus would have entered the house of such a man. Despite all of his “success”, he was still regarded as the lowest of men by his contemporaries. We sometimes think that our successes lead people to think well of us. In the case of Zacchaeus it was natural that people still looked down on him despite his financial clout. But the sneering of the crowd towards Zacchaeus is typical of the way that humanity in general looks negatively on those who enjoy worldly success. Those who do well in worldly terms are generally despised by everyone else. When someone does well in business, or even in the church, people begin to murmur, “Who knows how he got to where he is today? Who did he pay off? Who did he ingratiate himself to?”

Jesus is searching for the “son of Abraham” in each of us. He is looking for the beautiful one, the just one, that is buried inside of us.

Often our ambition to succeed is driven by rivalry and competitiveness towards others. This is how the people of Jericho look on Zacchaeus, but Jesus looks on him in a completely different way. “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and save what was lost.” The Son of Man, evidently, once possessed Zacchaeus. The tax collector once belonged to the Lord, and the Father has sent Jesus to find him again. Jesus is seeking out a man that is hidden inside the figure of Zacchaeus – and this hidden man is a son of Abraham. There is a just person hidden inside every human being. This is what Jesus is seeking out. What Jesus is searching for in each one of us is not what the vain-glory of this world tries to create out of us. Instead he is looking for the beauty that is hidden in each one of us. He is looking for the pearl, the oasis that exists in the desert of our lives. This beauty and justice belonged to Christ and he has been sent to bring it to the fore again. In Zacchaeus there lies hidden a son of Abraham.

How do we combat the errors in another’s behaviour? By chastising them? Or by valuing the other person and inspiring them to discover the good that is already hidden within them?

Searching for this child of Abraham in every human being is something worth doing. Sometimes we try to correct the errors in other people’s lives by verbally chiding them. We point out the things that they are doing wrong and how unjust their actions are. Such chastisement is a complete waste of time. More often than not the person is already aware of the errors of their ways. And if they are not aware, our complaints will not convince them either. There is another way of responding to the errors of another and this is the approach that the Lord Jesus has taken. To show the other person his value and dignity. By stopping at the house of Zacchaeus, Jesus is saying “Who you are matters to me. There is a relationship between us that is important to me.” As a result Zacchaeus discovers the good that is already there in his heart. He rediscovers the man that he really is. It is no longer of importance to him that he is the chief of his profession. It no longer matters that he has enormous worldly goods, or even that people speak badly of him. All that matters to him now are the beautiful things that he can do because of the fact that he has been found to be beautiful. It is beauty that convinces people to draw out that which has been hidden. It is when we entrust people that they are prompted to grow. When a father believes in his child, then the child brings to fruition the qualities that are hidden inside. When a father shows no faith in his child, then the child suppresses the qualities that he has. Jesus shows faith in Zacchaeus.  “I’m going to your house. You are someone that I value being with.” At first sight it might seem an odd pairing: Jesus the Just one and Zacchaeus the crooked tax collector”. Instead we find that they are perfectly compatible. Let us too be inspired by this Gospel to bring out all the good that is hidden inside of us. And let us be inspired to treat the people around us in the way that Jesus treated Zacchaeus – always seeking the good in others, always believing that there is something precious hidden in their hearts. Just as God has done with all of us, may we do with others! He has not emphasized our sinfulness. Instead he has focused on our infinite potential to love him in return.