“Zach” got saved. He was born again! During this jubilee year of mercy, we are invited to pray over the Gospel through the lens of mercy. The story of Zacchaeus is our story as well. How does the Lord encounter you in your life? As was the case of Zacchaeus, what would it take for you to realize that you need the Lord? both Jesus and Zacchaeus sought each other out. Zacchaeus climbed the sycamore tree to get a better vantage point from which to see Jesus. In turn, Jesus called forth Zacchaeus by name saying: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly for today I must stay at your house.” The joy is palpable between them. The back story on Zacchaeus: He was an unloved sinner. He worked for the enemy as a Roman tax collector. He had become a wealthy man, perhaps by overtaxing the poor. His physical smallness matched the low esteem in which he was held. There was shadiness to this tax collector’s life. He was a marked and hated by his fellow Jews. Zacchaeus had taken advantage of people. Then, and this is such a significant in his faith journey, there was a moment of awareness in Zacchaeus that is lifestyle led to loneliness and greediness. He was coming to the awareness that there was more to life than getting rich by taking advantage of people. Jesus stopped and caught sight of Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree. Jesus looked into his heart with love and invited him down as Jesus wished to come to his house today. Zacchaeus, at that moment, experienced himself as loved by the Lord. This beautiful moment of encounter with the Lord was a conversion in Zacchaeus. Nothing would ever be the same. This is our story as well when we experience ourselves as being loved by the Lord. Nothing is ever the same.
This beautiful Gospel can make every day of our life a jubilee of mercy. May we come before the Lord not impressed by our own accomplishments, but rather in a spirit of humility we are loved and healed and forgiven by the merciful love of Jesus. The unspoken question in today’s Gospel: which of the two: the Pharisee or the publican tax collector are you? In our personal inventory of the actions of our lives, there is probably a bit of the Pharisee and a bit of the publican in all of us. The Pharisees were for the most part religious people. Most of the people held them in high esteem. We can point to many accomplishments in our lives. Many “I” statements: I succeeded in school; I make good money; I know the right people; I support the Church and charitable causes; I once worked in a soup kitchen. If you listen closely to the Pharisee’s prayer, he really isn’t speaking to God, the evangelist Luke says: “He spoke this prayer to himself.” He probably was one of those churchy types whose very presence makes you aware that you don’t measure up. In contrast, the publican comes empty handed before the Lord and simply says: “O God be merciful to me a sinner.” This weekend we are welcoming into our First Reconciliation preparation process many, many of our younger parishioners. They are beautiful, beautiful boys and gifts. They are God’s beloved, but they are not perfect just as you and I are not perfect. We are teaching them to pray the beautiful heartfelt prayers of the publican: “O God be merciful to me a sinner.” This prayer does not lessen their self-esteem; rather this prayer makes them even more beautiful before our loving and forgiving God.
In our first reading, we hear of Moses whose arms were held in a similar position of prayer. His arms are raised in blessing over the work that the Israelites are doing. His prayerful posture speaks to the prayers of his heart as he asks God to help them overcome their enemies in battle. Who is our enemy then, against whom do we fight in the spiritual battle of living our Catholic faith? Our primary enemy is actually ourselves, our tendency towards selfishness and sin, our very own will which is fixated on its own desires, and not on the greater and more beautiful things that God has for us as His elect, His beloved and chosen children. But here’s the Good News: God has chosen us to fight and to win the battle of the Christian life, a battle we fight primarily through persistent prayer. When we pray we remember God, His love for us, His plan for our greatness and our sainthood. We also begin to see others as beloved, chosen by God, too. Their needs become important, like ours, and we can work together to praise and glorify God. When we pray regularly, when it is part of our daily routine, then we can begin to pray with boldness, and with trust in God. We become convinced through our real experiences that God is in charge at all times. When we do remain constant in prayer, wonderful things begin to happen. Our hearts and our lives are changed. Please persistently pray how to vote, even if the election cycle is beginning to weary you. Pray and persist in informing your conscience – the U.S. Bishops' document Faithful Citizenship (http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/upload/forming-consciences-for-faithful-citizenship.pdf), and there is more information in this week’s bulletin. Persistent in prayer helps us be not only good soldiers for Christ, but good stewards for Christ. Just as we cannot win the battle of our Catholic Christian faith unless we keep praying, we cannot be true to our calling as God’s elect, God’s chosen people, unless loving actions spring from our prayer for the good of our parish and the good of the world around us. I hope that you will pray, and even pray with persistence without growing weary, and listen to how God is calling you to be even more involved in the life of St. Joseph’s parish over the next year.
The story of the ten lepers is a very familiar one, and everyone is reminded of the need for gratitude. We are to live in gratitude. All of life is a gift to us. May we live with an attitude of gratitude for the ways that are lives so richly blessed. In a sense, the power of the priests and the temple and Jesus sending the lepers are a challenge to what the church is and does today. Like it or not, do we subconsciously isolate and cast aside others in how we treat or welcome them to the church and to our worship and friendship. Do we consciously or subconsciously push away people for one reason or another finding them not worthy of our fellowship? Jesus was a man present to anybody he met, and he shunned no one nor did he judge anyone. How often did he point out that Love of God was central, and that the temple and law were to facilitate and serve women and men, not to burden and harden their journey. Anything separating us from each other or from God is not then in God’s plan. Unnecessary burdens or regulations or laws are just that and should be abandoned. I think, that we wish to be a Church of welcome. We wish to exclude no one. But are we willing to back those words up with actions? Do we really know why former parishioners have chosen to worship somewhere else or not at all? What is our level of commitment to St Joseph’s Church that says we are stakeholders, we are stewards to the mission of our Church that says we are a Church of love, of welcome, of service to one another and service to all in need. How committed are we to be the disciples of Jesus – disciples who witness to the compassion, the forgiveness, the welcome of Jesus? How do we make this happen? It happens when we become a stewardship parish – a stewardship parish in which everyone fills out a stewardship card sharing a bit of time, a bit of talent, and a bit of treasure in the service of becoming a Church which witnesses of the Love of Jesus in all that we say and do. We are to live in gratitude; we are to live a life of stewardship in which we show our gratitude by sharing what we have with others. Gratitude is not a just social grace in learning to say thank you. Gratitude is a habit of the heart. Gratitude enriches us: it opens us to experience the bounty of God and others. The more we become grateful people, the more we will find to be grateful for. Today Jesus sees ten lepers from afar and shows extraordinary mercy. Jesus looks upon us as well and shows extraordinary mercy. We are called to be witnesses of the extraordinary mercy of Jesus in the lives of one and all.