Today is the famous story of Zacchaeus and the sycamore tree and I
thought it a good idea to talk about this today.
What would you do if Jesus knocked on your door and said, "I must
stay at your home today"? Would you be excited or embarrassed? Jesus often
"dropped-in" at unexpected times and he often visited the
"uninvited" – the poor, the lame, and even public sinners like
Zacchaeus, the tax collector! Tax collectors were despised and treated as
outcasts, no doubt because they over-charged people and accumulated great
wealth at the expense of others. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and was
much hated by all the people. Why would Jesus single him out for the honor of
staying at his home? Zacchaeus needed God's merciful love and forgiveness. In
his encounter with Jesus he found more than he imagined possible. He shows the
depth of his repentance by deciding to give half of his goods to the poor and
to use the other half for making restitution for fraud. Zacchaeus' testimony
included more than words. His change of heart resulted in a change of life, a
change that the whole community could experience as genuine. Haven’t we done a
"Zacchaeus thing" today by leaving our homes to come to church?
Aren’t we gathered together to get a better glimpse of Jesus? Who knows? He may
just stop at the place we are right now and give us a clearer insight to where
he is in the midst of the issues and struggles that embroil us. We’ll stay in
this "tree" we have chosen today – but just for a while. Then we will
climb down to return to our daily lives. To those places – family, work,
school, recreation – we will bring the clearer vision we have received of Jesus
at this Eucharist. We have seen him through his Word, by receiving his body and
blood and by being together with other searchers who have come out to see the
Lord. Zacchaeus didn’t encounter Jesus at a shrine on a mountaintop, or on a
walk among the cedars. Surely those are places where encounters with the Holy
One do happen. But not this day. Zacchaeus met Jesus in his everyday world. The
important aspect of the event is that Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus and his
responding to that desire made the meeting possible.
Please remember to write into the book of the faithful departed, those
you wish to be remembered during the month of the Holy Souls.
If you wish to contribute to St. Paul Catholic Secondary School Jamaican
container project, please leave articles in the basement here or take directly
to the high school.
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| From 9 am - 2.30pm |
Please mark November 9th, Resettlement Bazaar and November 22nd,
the next parish concert.
Tree Lighting Ceremony and Prayers and Evening with Santa: Remember to mark December 7th on
your calendars. The evening will begin with the tree lighting and blessing
after the 5 PM Mass.
Fr. Phil
