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Gospel: Luke 19: 1-10
At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
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.
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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I was SO excited to see children enjoying our new playground last week. After Mass, I went outside to greet them and noticed one young boy quickly climbing the stairs to the top. He paused, took in the view, and shouted, suddenly:
Yaaaaahhhhh!
It was as if he saw the world from a different perspective for the very first time.
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In today’s Gospel, we encounter a man named Zacchaeus. There are two important things to know about him: he was a tax collector and, like the boy climbing the playground staircase, he wasn’t very tall.
Tax collectors were hated by their neighbors. They were seen as greedy, ambitious thieves, who extorted pennies from the penniless. No wonder the crowds tried blocking him from seeing Jesus!
Zacchaeus’s size was also metaphorical: in addition to being short in stature, he was also a man of little faith.
Caught in a greedy profession, he was focused on worldly things, preventing him from seeing the bigger picture.
But something was stirred inside of him that day. What was it?
Was he lonely? Was he soul searching? Did he finally realize that, ultimately, material things cannot satisfy us?
We need the intangibles in life to be complete; things like faith, hope, and love.
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The Gospel tells us that Zacchaeus wanted to “see” Jesus. This verb, “to see,” is used to describe more than physical sight; it also implies a person’s journey to faith.
So, Zacchaeus sprints ahead of the crowds and climbs up a sycamore tree, allowing him to see beyond the crowds, beyond his greed, and beyond the business of his daily life.
Clinging anxiously to those shady branches, he represents a soul seeking more; a soul at prayer; a soul in search of God.
***
It was a moment of discovery. Suddenly, that desire stirring deep within him started being satisfied.
But the Lord would not allow Zacchaues to remain there. Seeing Jesus is only part of faith’s equation; the other part is doing something about it.
“Zacchaeus, come down from that tree. I intend to stay at your house today,” he says.
The fact that Zacchaeus welcomes Jesus into his home implies that he not only makes room physically, but spiritually, he welcomes the Lord into his heart.
By the end of the meal, Zacchaeus declares, “Lord, if I have wronged anyone, I will repay it four times over.” Filled with remorse for his sins, he promises to repay all of his neighbors whom he extorted for years.
Imagine him knocking on their doors the next day a changed man, not only seeking to restore what he stole; but also, to repair the relationships he ruined.
He reminds us that faith always comes at a cost. It’s not enough to see Jesus; we must also be changed by him.
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This is the journey of faith.
It begins with our desire to see Jesus, followed by the realization that we cannot see him if we’re blocked by the crowds, blinded by busyness, or the burdens of daily life. We have to climb a sycamore tree.
What is my sycamore tree? Where do I discover the Lord?
Perhaps it’s the hour we spend each week coming to Mass. Maybe it’s the few minutes we spend reading a daily devotional, having a faith-based conversation with a friend, or the healing we find in confession.
That’s the first part of the equation – encountering Jesus.
But the other is being changed by that encounter. So, how has my faith changed me?
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I think of that jovial look on the little boy’s face, who climbed the stairs on our new playground. He saw the world from different perspective. It filled him with joy, and changed him. It was a type of “sycamore tree.”
May we have a similar experience with Jesus, taking the time to climb to a higher place – to see him – and to come back down changed for the better.
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Image credits: (1) “Zacchaeus” by Maryinasia, (wetcanvas.com) (2) Zacchaeus in the Sycamore Tree, by William Hole (3) FOOTPRiNTS Summer Day Camp 2022
