Luke 19:1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man
was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was
trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because
he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see
him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he
looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must
stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome
him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the
guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
"Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I
have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much."
Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because
he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the
lost."
* * *
Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are the Alpha and the
Omega. You have given me life and offer me eternal life with you. You deserve
my honor, gratitude and love, and yet you never impose yourself upon me. Thank
you for respecting my freedom so that I can offer myself to you. All that I
have is yours; I return it to you.
Petition: Lord,
increase my faith.
1. Zacchaeus
up a Tree: Yesterday and today’s Gospel passages
speak eloquently of the need to encounter Christ at all costs. The blind man we
read about yesterday would not stop shouting until he was brought to the Lord.
Today a short and very unpopular man named Zacchaeus runs back and forth among
the crowd until finally, in his determination to encounter Christ, he breaks
all protocol and scrambles up a tree. Jesus wastes no time in entering
decisively this tax collector’s life and transforming it. This resembles our
own encounter with Christ. At times different obstacles stand in our way and
prevent us from seeing Our Lord and his action in our lives. Above all we lack
determination. How easy it is to craft excuses: “I am just too short,” “Maybe
Jesus is too busy,” “I am just a sinner.” If we really want Our Lord to stay at
our house, he will, but there may be trees that we need to climb first.
2. Welcoming
Jesus: Few people ever welcomed Jesus with the
joy and exuberance as did this little man. He came down from the tree, gave
half of his wealth to the poor, and promised to restore any fraudulent
transactions four times over. Zacchaeus has truly been like that merchant in
search of fine pearls (see Matthew 13:45-46). He is willing to sell all he has
to buy the pearl of great price: friendship and intimacy with the Lord. How
many times has Jesus looked up at us and asked us to remain with him? How many
times have we had the immense grace of receiving the King of kings into our
hearts in the Blessed Eucharist? Do we offer merely a corner of our hearts for
him or do we reserve the presidential suite? How pure do we maintain our souls
for our Guest?
3. Of
Sinners and Saints: What makes someone a saint and someone
else a sinner? Certainly it is not the grumbling of the jealous crowd who are
unwilling to climb up the tree to see Jesus yet are quick to criticize anyone
who does. In fact, everyone is a sinner. St. Paul writes, “Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Yet St. Paul, Zacchaeus, you and I all go from being sinners to saints when we
encounter Christ and are faithful to his friendship. Salvation came to
Zacchaeus’ house when Jesus entered it, and salvation comes to us through the
graces received at baptism, renewed in the Sacrament of Penance, and nurtured
in the Eucharist.
Conversation
with Christ
Jesus, help me to be willing to do whatever it takes to grow in a deeper
friendship with you. Don’t allow me to worry about the murmurings of the crowd,
but only to listen to your voice and respond to it with generosity.
Resolution: I will make a
point to go to confession at the next possible opportunity asking Jesus to
forgive me my sins and to help me to turn from being a sinner into being a
saint. I will make it a real encounter with Jesus.