Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Wis 11.22-12.2;
II Thess;
Lk 19.1-10

The first reading at today’s Mass, from the Book of Wisdom, is a wonderful passage inspired by the Holy Spirit, teaching us once again of God’s infinite love and mercy. Out of his immersed love, God made us to be perfect. All our thoughts, our desires, our intellect, all are ordered to the only thing that could ever give us perfect fulfilment and happiness, namely God Himself. As Saint Augustine says, ‘Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee.’
Saint Paul takes up this same theme and adds to it the one central event not open to the Old Testament writer of the Book of Wisdom: the intervention of Our Lord in the history of our salvation. St Paul adds the possibility of the grace of God, coming to us through Our Lord Jesus Christ, calling us to Himself, making us worthy of that call, and assisting us to answer it, to know His presence and to give Him praise and glory.

And when we turn to today’s gospel, we see in action this love of God for us poor sinners, a love made flesh in the person of Christ. We see the love of God seeking out Zacchaeus, calling him, and saving him from his sinful life. Perhaps you remember what we heard about people such as Zacchaeus in last week’s gospel. Tax-collectors! How despised that group of men were. They were regarded as backsliding collaborators with the occupying Roman authorities. They were unscrupulous in how they went about raising the official quota, only part of which they passed on to their Roman masters. They stole, they bribed, they extorted, they blackmailed. They were hated as double-dealing spies for the detested Romans. Zacchaeus realized the extent of his sins and came to understand his need for forgiveness and to make reparation. To gain the forgiveness of God, he first of all had to shed away from the protection of the Roman guards and any kind of human respect. He had to open himself up to the possibility of ridicule, contempt and perhaps even physical danger.

We know well the story of how Christ called Zacchaeus by name, and how Zacchaeus responded promptly and willingly to that call. And then, moved by Our Lord’s presence, how Zacchaeus begins to lead a new life. He does more than simply fulfil what the Law of Moses prescribed in relation to the restoration of goods unjustly obtained. The gospel says ‘four times the amount’, he showed his contrition and received the forgiveness of Jesus, who will never be outdone in generosity. St. Augustine has this to say about money and faith: “Let the rich learn that evil does not consist in having wealth, but in not putting it to good use; for just as riches are an obstacle to evil people, they are also a means of virtue for good people.”
Thus Zacchaeus started with being merely curious. He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was. He ended up by having his life transformed – for the better, when Christ came passing by.

The readings are reassurance to us of God’s endless supply of grace to us through his Holy Spirit, and that in order to retain and continue to receive these gifts we must remain holy. He is so kind to us, and we give him the great pleasure of receiving and retaining his salvation. His son died for us to save us, and when we remain faithful to his grace and mercy, he will manifest his great love in us.In Christ’s dying for us, through his passion and death, we must remember that we honor his sacrifice in the way we live our lives with joy and service, and we offer our sufferings to him.

Fr Osho