Friends,
today’s Gospel declares in the story of Zacchaeus how quickly God
responds to any sign of faith. Zacchaeus’ climbing the sycamore tree
shows he had more than a passing interest in seeing Jesus. He had a deep
hunger of the spirit. His principal virtue was his willingness to go to
great extremes. But this is what we do when we know that something of
great moment is at stake. When our health is endangered, we move, we
act; when our job is threatened, we go to almost any extreme to keep it.
When Jesus spotted him, he said, "Zacchaeus, hurry down. I mean to stay at your house today." Christians,
God responds to us readily when we show the least interest in him. He
doesn’t play hard to get; he is not coy with us. When we seek him, he
responds, because loving us is his entire game.
Notice how Jesus tells Zacchaeus to hurry. Don’t wait, don’t hesitate. Seize the moment of conversion when it comes.
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 153
Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance
or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.
But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;
and you overlook people's sins that they may repent.
For you love all things that are
and loathe nothing that you have made;
for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.
And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it;
or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?
But you spare all things, because they are yours,
O LORD and lover of souls,
for your imperishable spirit is in all things!
Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little,
warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing,
that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!
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."
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