"But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook people's sins that they may repent." (Wisdom 11:23)

This was part of the First Reading in yesterday's Mass. It reminds us of an important teaching of revelation. There is a time of mercy and a time of justice. We are in this grace time of infinite mercy from God. It is a time of repentance and forgiveness of our sins and a time of turning more to the Lord for all things. From the time of birth till death, we are in this time of mercy. But at death, we will experience the justice of God. If we die in  union with God, then his justice will be an invitation to eternal life with him. On the other hand, if we die alienated from God, our hearts hardened to him, then his justice will be alienation from him eternally. Not knowing the day or hour of our death, we need to be grateful for his mercy, so as to be ready to respond to his justice.

 Where do we receive strength in our spiritual journey in the midst of the difficulties of life? What gives us hope in days of darkness and tribulations? If not, Jesus, then who? God became man so that, after having experienced the trials and joys of of the human life, he could show us how to walk our own journey. He said that he was the way, the truth and the life. Follow him. He invites all who are weary and heavily burdened to come to him and learn from him. Go to him. He showed us that love was the only way of life for his disciples. Love as he loved. He said that he would be with us always. Trust  in him. He sent  his own Spirit to remain with us and to guide us. Be open to the grace of the Spirit. He gave us his own Body and Blood to eat and drink, as the true food of life. Relish this gift. He invites us to table fellowship with him and others. Others are on the same journey with us. Encourage and strengthen one another. After all this do we feel life and hope? 

 Desolation and consolation are two moments in our spiritual journey. Consolations are the highs, a sense of being loved, a sense of rightness in life. Desolation has a sense of sadness, of being alone, of being lost, of being in the darkness and not  in the light, a sense of hopelessness. In times of consolations, we seem to have a sense of knowing where we are going, our prayer seems to bring us closer to God. In times of desolation, we feel that God has abandoned us, our prayer feels unheard.  Both are important graces in our spiritual journey. For it is in desolation that God brings us into a deeper awareness of sin in our lives. He seems to strip and prune us so that we can have a greater experience of him. In times of desolation we need to ask God for discernment and patience: discernment to know what God wants of us at the moment; patience to wait upon the timing of the Lord. Like the seasons, winter turns to spring and desolation turns to consolation. Watch for it and wait for it. 

 

Homily: Thirty-first Sunday Year C

Reading 1: We acknowledge God’s magnificence and his otherness and our dependency upon him. The truth is that in the presence of God we are nothing. We are like a drop of dew that soon evaporates. But God is merciful to us, temporarily overlooking our sins and giving us a chance to repent.

 

How often and to what depth have we experienced this endless mercy of God? How often have we repented because of the grace of mercy? Why does God treat us with mercy when we are sinners? Because of who he is: God is love and he created us in love, sustains us in love and shares his life with us in love.

 

God hates nothing he created. But Sin he did not create and what sin does to us he did not create. He abhors sin and all it does to us. Yet, in spite of our sinfulness he sustains us because he loves us, having placed his imperishable spirit within us. With his grace he calls us back to repentance. He does not seek the death of the sinner but that he may repent and live forever with him in glory.

 

What is our response? Is it praise and thanksgiving? Or is it focus on our desires to be who we are not or to do what pleases us no matter what?

 

Gospel: Here is one of those encounters with Jesus that changes a person’s life. Zacchaeus is a tax collector. As such he is hated by the people because he serves the Roman Empire by collecting taxes for the Romans and adding a generous fee for himself.

 

Zacchaeus must have heard of Jesus. Maybe he heard that many tax collectors and sinners are following him. Thus, he was curious to see this person and maybe more than curious, maybe hungry for something more in his own life. Because he was short and because he knew the animosity of the people towards him, he climb a tree for a better vantage point.

 

Unbeknown to Zacchaeus, the Spirit had informed Jesus that there was someone whom he is to minister to on his journey. When Jesus saw Zacchaeus, his gaze of mercy ministered to the tax collector. The gaze of Jesus goes beyond sin and prejudice. He sees the person with the eyes of God, which does not stop with sin, but sees the potential of a grace-filled life for the person. In this gaze Jesus helped Zacchaeus to see his true worth.

 

Jesus’ interaction with the tax collector angered the people. How could Jesus even think of entering the house of a public sinner! They saw his sins but refused to see their own sins.

 

Zacchaeus’s conversion was swift. He recognized and admited that he had taken advantage of people. He repented of this publicly. He promised to give restitution. Mercy, repentance, restitution lead to the grace of salvation. Are we Zacchaeus or are we among the crowd? Are we seeking something more authentic even though we do not know it? Is Jesus that more?

 

Reading 2: Paul at this point in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians addresses the question of the second coming of Jesus in glory. He begins by focusing on what is more important or the preparation for the second coming of the Lord. He prays that the Christians grow in holiness, fulfilling their call from God. In this way Jesus will be glorified in them and they in him.

 

Then he reminds them that Jesus will come again in glory but we do not know the day or hour. Unfortunately, someone had been upsetting the people by saying it was very soon. As a result, people stop working and just waited. Paul confronts this false teaching by saying the best way to prepare is to grow in holiness day by day, by fulfilling one’s call to live a life of worthiness, while continue to live a normal life.  In this way, whenever the Lord comes, he will find them in relationship to him.

 

"Only Jesus can save us. That is why it is so important to remove your inner eye away from the complexities of your own broken heart toward the pure but broken heart of Jesus. Looking at him and his immense mercy will give you the ability to accept your own imperfections and to really let yourself be cared for by the mercy and love of Jesus." (Henri Nouwen)

When I realize that all is grace and mercy, I can better walk the journey of life I am on. I must cooperate with God's merciful grace, yes. But my cooperation is one percent of the total picture. God's grace provides the rest that I need. He saves me without me doing anything. But he wants me to respond to his gift of salvation at the cost of his life by giving him my life in return. That's my one percent. But that one percent is very important. He gave his total life for me on the cross of suffering. Nothing less than our total life to him will suffice. He doesn't want a fraction of one percent of our life. So much to gain and so much to lose, depending on that one percent. Is God asking too much from us?

 Thirty-first Sunday Gospel C

At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. 

· Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. The journey from Galilee to Jerusalem took him through the town of Jericho. This was the town that Joshua and the Israelites conquered as they entered the Promised Land.

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.  

· Being a tax collector marked him as one who was disliked by the local people. His wealth came from the additional commissions he was able to keep from the taxes of the people.

· He must have heard of Jesus’ reputation. He may have even known Matthew, who was a tax collector before becoming a disciple of Jesus. He was curious to see Jesus.

· The primacy of grace is at play here. Without knowing it, he was being motivated by God to seek to see Jesus.

o The irony is that Zacchaeus sought with great effort to see Jesus, only to discover that Jesus was seeking him.

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." 

· How did Jesus know his name? Was it a word of knowledge? Had they met before? If so, why would Luke say: “he was seeking to see who Jesus was?”

· The grace of salvation was prepared for by the grace of wanting to see who Jesus was. Zacchaeus responds to the different graces he is receiving.

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."  

· Zacchaeus is known to the local people who have also heard that Jesus was passing through their town. They have no kind words for him, for in their eyes he was a public sinner. For Jesus to stay at his house was contrary to their understanding of the Law.

· How often do we judge others from their public life?

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." 

· As Matthew left his past behind him, Zacchaeus is willing to do the same.

· The first step to discipleship is acknowledgment of sin, repentance and a firm decision to turn away from sin and to turn to Jesus.

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."

· God gives the initial grace, we respond to that grace and God grants us salvation.

· How many people at the same scene had received a similar grace but did not respond to it and as a result did not experience the mercy of Jesus?

· How often have we not responded to the grace from God which would have brought us to a deeper relationship with God? What blocked us? Sin? Fear? Lack of trust? Shame?

· How do we apply the lesson of this event to our life?

 "Christian perfection consists in three things: praying heroically, working heroically, and suffering  heroically." (St. Anthony Mary Claret)

Probably the word "heroically"  will initially discourage some. Maybe we could better understand what he means if we substitute the phrase "with Christ-like love". Can we then pray, work and suffer with Christ-like love" Isn't this what St. Paul implied when  he said, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do it in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."?    In a sense, Jesus make our journey to him easier when he said to love as he has loved. So, today, be conscious of doing in and with love whatever you do. See if that doesn't make a major difference in your life and in the life of others.