I MUST STAY IN YOUR HOUSE      

November 16, Tuesday

Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time

 

      The first book of the Maccabees is historical and gives us the story of the struggle of the faithful Jews to preserve their religion and culture. The second book of the Maccabees is a more edifying book that gives us inspiring examples of the people’s struggles and faithfulness, like old Eleazar’s martyrdom, for the sake of observing the Law.

      Today, we meet Zacchaeus, the rich typical sinner as a tax collector, who is small and poor as a person. He runs to encounter Jesus and is converted through this encounter, but it is really Jesus who takes the initiative by calling Zacchaeus out of the tree and asking whether he can stay in his house. This is the solution for the sinner, cold or lukewarm: accept to encounter the Lord again. This message is spoken to us too. Encountering Jesus will change us too.

 

First Reading: 2 Maccabees 6:18-31

Eleazar, a prominent scribe, an elderly and respected fellow, had his mouth forcibly opened and pork thrust down his throat. Rather than swallow it, he coughed it up and spat it out. He preferred an honorable death to a life of disgrace and walked without support toward the torture chamber. To spit the pork out was an important gesture; a Jew couldn’t eat unclean meat even if it were the last morsel of food left on earth.

The Gentiles who were in charge of the pork sacrifices were longtime admirers of Eleazar. They had taken him aside for a word. “Next time,” they had whispered, “bring along some meat that looks like pork but isn’t; we’ll heat it up and you’ll eat it and the interrogators will be none the wiser. You’d no longer face the death penalty, and we’d have done our good deed for the day.”

Nice as the offer had been, Eleazar could not accept it. He not only was obliged not to eat pork but also not to give even the impression he was eating pork. He’d learned that as a child, and here he was now grown wiser with age. The choice as he saw it was to do the will of God now or eventually be condemned to the world of shadows below. Immediately he gave this reply to his Gentile friends.

 “It’s not right for a man of my age and reputation to do something like that,” he proclaimed to them. “I’m ninety years old, and I’d be sending the wrong message to the younger men. It’s not okay to offer pagan sacrifice at any time. If I pretend it’s okay just to gain a few days more before I die, I will have wasted a lifetime of virtue and end everything poorly. It would be a mistake for me to escape punishment now, only to incur punishment from the Almighty hereafter. But if I do the virtuous thing now, I’ll finish my life well and set a good example for those who follow. Yes, there comes a time when the only right thing to do leads to death.”

Then he shuffled off toward the torture chamber, from which he wouldn’t return.

His Gentile admirers, however, were not impressed; they were offended that he turned down their kind offer. To them he was just another old man who was out of his mind. He wouldn’t know a kindness if it were handed to him on a silver platter. In the torture chamber they beat the old man to the point of death.

“Lord, you know this already!” Eleazar cried out. “My body groans, but my soul yearns for you and no one else.”

And so this great man’s life ended, leaving behind an example of strength and a memorial of virtue for young and old alike.

 

Gospel: Luke 19:1-10

Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.

hen Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?”

Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”

Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”

 

Prayer

God of mercy and compassion,
you know how often our fervor cools off,
how poor of heart we are at times
when we think we are rich
and sure to belong to you.
Let us encounter your Son again
in the deepest of ourselves,
help us to look for him,
that his presence may change us
and that he may live among us.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection :

Mercy for those who have erred
“Publicans and prostitutes will overtake you in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 21:31). Did Jesus say this as a warning to the so called righteous of the community? Perhaps, we who are Christians and who boast of our rich traditions and faith, have something to learn from the story of Zacchaeus.
Today’s Gospel takes us to meet Zacchaeus, the chief of the tax collectors in Jericho. Although a rich man, he is despised by the people because he was collecting taxes on behalf of the Romans and moreover, his riches may not have come from honest earnings, but from bribes.
Tax collectors were regarded as traitors to the homeland, as they collaborated with the occupying power; they were “impure”, since they were in constant contact with pagans. This is how Luke paints the picture of this publican for us: He was rich in wealth, but short in stature and disliked by the public.

The shortness of Zacchaeus was more from his feelings of inferiority which prevents him from moving with the rest of the people. He is aware that the people of his community does not appreciate him or even hates him. That makes him feel short. But Jesus does not make Zacchaeus the slightest reproach. Zacchaeus does not feel “short” anymore! Zacchaeus’ experience was unspeakable: the “prophet” had not avoided him, but had become guest in his home; his table companion. In that society in which sharing food meant sharing life. For Zacchaeus it was an overwhelming and transforming experience of grace. He began to re-plan his life.

The evangelist Luke wants to make it clear to his community that the excluded and despised in the society are recovered by the path of grace and understanding. And when one is “touched” by the closeness of Jesus, one becomes conscious of the injustices of one’s own life. Zacchaeus’ new behaviour is the demonstration of having acquired that new meaning, that new sensibility.
God condemns sin, but saves the sinner; He goes looking for him to bring him back. Those who have never felt they are sought by God’s mercy, find it difficult to grasp the extraordinary greatness of the gestures and words with which Jesus approaches Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus discovers from Jesus that it is possible to love gratuitously. By encountering Love, by discovering that he is loved despite his sins, he becomes capable of loving others, making money a sign of solidarity and communion.
May the Virgin May obtain for us the grace always to feel Jesus’ merciful gaze upon us, to go with mercy towards those who have erred.

 

Video available on Youtube : Mercy for those who have erred