31.10.2004 31st Sunday ordinary Season - Year C
First Reading: Wisdom 11,22-12,2 Psalm 144
Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1,11-2,2 Gospel Reading: Luke 19,1-10
St Paul tells us what his desires are when he prays: he wants our lives as
believers to have the glory of Jesus as it's fruit. Being so totally immersed
in the things of this world, health, pleasure and material well-being, it might
seem strange to us to desire "only" the glory of Jesus! Whoever begins,
however, soon discovers that there is no greater joy, well-being or communion
than that which comes with bringing Jesus to the hearts of others. Here is the
glory, the best place to be, for he finds fulfillment when he enters a heart:
he saves it from solitude and from the oppression of emptiness, he liberates
it from desiring evil, he restores it to health, he fills it. I add my prayer
to that of the Apostle with joy and ask you to do the same!
St Paul warns us that some will use the name of Jesus to confuse and trouble
us. Who could it be? Is it those who talk of visions and inspirations which
spread anxiety and expectations of the Lord, as if he were coming to punish
and destroy? We want to await the Lord in joy, for he is coming to free us from
evil and clothe us in his glory!
An example of how wonderful is the coming of Jesus is announced in today's gospel
reading. As he is passing through Jericho, Jesus is not particularly happy with
the crowd pressing around him - asking for his autograph we would say today.
In fact the crowd did not want him as a curer of souls, as a friend of sinners
come to free them from the effects of sinning. Jesus looks for those who know
they are sinners. And there, hidden in the branches of a tree is a sinner trying
to see him. He has climbed up into such an unusual place because he is aware
of how unworthy he is to meet Jesus. But Jesus draws close to him and the sinner
obeys and hurries down from the tree. His great joy is the fruit of this first
meeting in the street in the midst of a crowd that was now despising Jesus for
wanting to meet him.. With joy in his heart, the sinner accompanies Jesus to
his house. Thanks to the love of the Lord, Zacchaeus is able to ignore the crowd.
Who knows how, but having welcomed Jesus has changed his way of thinking of
the poor and of money. Money and riches have a new meaning for him: they are
no longer masters of thoughts and heart, they have become servants of his new
love for Jesus! The poor and cheated can feel themselves loved by God thanks
to that money which is given out to them and which no longer destroys men's
relationships with each other, but helps to rebuild them.
Welcoming Jesus to his home and his heart, Zacchaeus can at last love his town,
while before he feared it's scorn. Welcoming Jesus renewed his identity and
the meaning of his name which is "pure"! Before meeting Jesus his
name sounded completely wrong. Every time he was called by name, he felt derided:
it was in contradiction with the reality of his life. Now he no longer needed
to feel ashamed of himself!
Jesus had enacted an enormous change just with his presence! Zacchaeus was saved:
no longer a slave to money or to what others thought of him. By welcoming Jesus,
he had become free and that freedom had given him great joy. He had become like
the lost sheep that once found, experiences the same joy as the shepherd who
brings him home, to safety among friends and in communion with the other sheep!
Come Jesus, come to meet me too. I turn to you with the prayer from the book
of Wisdom. I am a sinner, I am aware of your reproof, but also of your compassion:
You love all things and despise nothing that you have created. …You save all
things, because they are yours, Lord and Lover of Life!
I shall welcome Jesus and with him look at my life, that my inner freedom may
increase, freedom from all the criticisms and judgement of others. With my obedience
to him, I can become a sign for those who are still waiting and hoping in a
full life and profound joy!