Tag: mercy

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Zacchaeus

picture of jesus looking up into a tree seeing zacchaeus sitting in the tree

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Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings

First Reading: Wisdom 11:22-12:2
Responsorial: Psalm 145:1-2, 8-11, 13-14
Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2
Gospel: Luke 19:1-10

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110319.cfm

In today’s Gospel we hear the story of Zacchaeus, the short-statured tax collector who climbed a tree as Jesus was passing through Jericho. Can you imagine what it would have looked like to see Zacchaeus in a tree straining to catch a glimpse of Jesus? Can you imagine the smile that crossed Jesus’ face when he looked up and saw Zacchaeus? Now picture the look on Zacchaeus’ face when Jesus invited himself to dinner at his house. I suspect he was beside himself with joy!

My brothers and sisters, how many of us, I wonder, have done things in our lives that we are not particularly proud of? You see, Zacchaeus the tax collector who not only was a collaborator with the Roman occupiers, but who earned his income by adding a surcharge to the taxes he collected for Rome. Some might say the tax collectors extorted the people. And yet, Zacchaeus was a seeker. Something was missing in his life and he hungered for more. So, he came out hoping to see Jesus.

Jesus chose him for company at dinner. To enter a home, as Jesus did, was huge. When enemies would share a meal for example, it would have been an act of peace. So, Jesus eating with Zacchaeus was essentially an act of reconciliation.

Perhaps Jesus could see that Zacchaeus, like the prodigal son, was trying to find a way to return home to the Father. His gesture of climbing the tree to see Jesus was like the prodigal son walking home. Like the father who runs to greet his son, Jesus reaches out to meet Zacchaeus, figuratively speaking.

The Eucharist comes out of this eastern tradition where enemies eating together are reconciled and where we by our participation can be reconciled. The Eucharist can help us to do what we might not be able to do, or willing to do on our own – like seek forgiveness and healing.

But that’s not the end of the story. No! Moved with great joy by this act of reconciliation, Zacchaeus promises to amend his life and to donate a significant portion of his wealth to the poor and to repay those he’s extorted with interest. Wow! Such a sacrifice couldn’t be easy for him to actually carry out. Can you imagine? What would it do to your home to give away half of your possessions and to repay anyone you’ve taken money from four times over?

That, I think, is precisely the point. We, especially those of us in the west who want for little, are challenged to down-size, de-clutter and simplify our lives as best we can. But here’s the catch. It’s not really our things, our possessions or our wealth that is the problem. It’s our attachment to those things that’s the real problem. We might imagine we can’t do without them, so divestiture never enters our minds. Much to the chagrin of our family and friends, we might hoard the oddest things, like aluminum foil, or plastic bags, or whatever. At some level this means that we place more confidence in those things than in anyone else let alone Jesus Christ. As we find in Psalm 33:17, “A vain hope for safety is the horse; despite its power it cannot save.”

No thing – nothing can save us. Our salvation comes from Christ alone! I think Zacchaeus understood that.

Homework! Nourished by the Word of God proclaimed, and, in the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following:

  1. As we approach Advent, now is a good time to clean out our closets and get rid of our excess – things we really don’t need. So, as you’re pulling out Christmas decorations, make a plan to get rid of the things you really don’t need.
  2. Look through the places in your heart where you might store hurts or pains that you’re clinging to for whatever reason. As we approach Advent, now is a good time to allow the healing power of Holy Spirit to wash away the muck in our hearts and be reconciled to Jesus Christ.

Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go and make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

Church teaching:

  • Catechism of the Catholic Church: repairing injustice, 549, 2412; reintegrating forgiven sinners, 1443.
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The tax collector’s love

a drawing of the solar system with the word me at center and planets are my stuff

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Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings

First Reading: Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18
Responsorial: Psalm 34:2-3, 17-19, 23
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Gospel: Luke 18:9-14

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/102719.cfm

“The Lord hears the cry of the poor,” is our responsorial today and in the first reading from Sirach we hear, “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds…” Again, in these passages as we have heard before, those who are “poor in spirit” are those who do not put other things before God, like wealth or other worldly attachments. In other words, this is a poverty that is not focused on me, but on God. Indeed, these readings lay the foundation for what we hear proclaimed in the Gospel according to Luke today.

Consider this idea from the noted Catholic theologian Karl Rahner, from the time we are born, we as individual babies are perhaps the most self-centered beings in all creation. We behave as if we are the center of the world, and perhaps that’s how it must be if we are to survive. But as we grow and develop – that is, as we mature – the goal is for us transcend our selfishness and move toward openness to the other. Shifting our focus away from ourselves and toward other is truly an act of love. As Christian disciples, our ultimate goal is to shift our focus away from ourselves and this world and to focus on the God who saves us through Christ Jesus.

To illustrate this point in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee in prayer to God describes just how much better he is over everybody else because of the things he does. What is that prayer about? Well, he’s all me, me, me, isn’t he? You have to wonder if the god he prays to isn’t really himself and in that sense, perhaps the Pharisee is without love.

But the tax collector comes before God and bows low. He knows he has lead a life of sin by collaborating with the Roman occupiers. Maybe he considers himself unworthy, and yet he finds the courage enough to approach God and ask for mercy. His prayer is simple and beautiful. In contrast to the Pharisee whose prayer is turned inward, the tax collector who probably does the things he knows he shouldn’t, but can’t for various reasons stop himself, prays to God and begs for mercy.

His prayer has become known as the Jesus prayer, and I encourage you to learn it. The prayer is a reminder that we are not the center of the universe – that we are accountable to the people around us and to the God who will judge us at the end of time. Even if there are circumstances in our lives that lead us to sin that we cannot get rid of, we must continue to seek mercy as we endeavor to make changes in our lives. We should strive to be like we heard in our second reading from 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” Indeed, for those who keep the faith, we remember that Christ is our King. His throne is a wooden cross and that is where His victory was won, and He is King forever.

Homework! Having been nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and, in the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect upon and to do the following:

  1. Make a list of the good things you do and could brag about if you wanted to. We should be mindful of those things we attach an inordinate amount of pride to.
  2. Make a list of the things you do that make you feel unworthy and in need of God’s mercy.
  3. When you finish your lists, read them carefully, then pray silently the Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

I think by doing our homework this week we might be reminded to exercise our focus away from ourselves and toward those around and ultimately toward our Savior Jesus Christ. Do you go it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

Notes:
1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, Jesus Prayer nos. 2616 and 2667.

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Extravagant Mercy

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Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings

First Reading: Amos 8:4-7
Responsorial: Psalm 113:1-2, 4-8
Second Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-8
Gospel: Luke 16:1-13

You can’t serve both God and mammon!

My brothers and sisters, in today’s readings we hear a little bit of a confusing story about the dishonest steward. It’s a little confusing because at the end of the Gospel, it sounds like Jesus is commending the steward’s craftiness. Can that really be the case? First, let’s set the scene.

Mammon isn’t just money. It refers to worldly wealth and perhaps even a worldly attitude that goes along with everything this world promises us. With that understanding, let’s jump into to the readings.

In the Gospel the steward, who is basically the manager responsible for his employer’s property and staff has been careless with his employer’s property. The employer learns that the steward has been careless. He is accused of squandering property. His employer tells him that he is going to be let go, but first he must make an accounting of everything he has done.

The steward is a little panicked. He has no idea what he is going to do once he is unemployed. So, he conceives a plan. He figures that if he generous with his employer’s debtors, they will help him once he is unemployed. He summons the debtors and reviews their debts, then has them write promissory notes for less that the amount. Whether he pays part of the debts is not known, but he eases their debt-burdens.

Now when his employer learns what he has done, he praises the steward for his prudence. It almost sounds like Jesus is praising the steward for his shrewdness. How can this be?

Well, here’s the second point. Before Jesus tells this parable, he had just finished telling the crowd the parable of the lost son. This isn’t a second day. This is a continuation of the readings from last week. Now Jesus is offering this parable. What did we learn from last week’s readings? Jesus tells us about the enormous generosity of the Father’s mercy. But at the same time he warns us that he has not come to save the righteous – those who think themselves better than everyone else.

In contrast, Jesus tells us about this prudent steward – a limited, self-motivated example of mercy. In other words, seeing these two parables side by side, this parable is about mercy with strings attached. I’ll forgive you if you agree to do the dishes for a month; or I’ll forgive you if you agree to clean out the gutters for me. This is what the world tells us we should do, right? We should adopt an attitude the espouses, “what’s in it for me?” This is the approach to life that world tells us will lead to happiness, wealth and success.

But is this a sustainable way of living our lives? After a while, managing all those strings becomes exhausting. We can’t serve both our own self-interest and be in right relation with those around us. You cannot serve both God and mammon. In this situation, you only love the one and come to become frustrated with the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.

No, when we extend forgiveness, we should extend it like God. We should offer forgiveness totally and with no strings attached. Why? Well, first, because that is how we wish to be treated by other people. Second, that’s how we wish to be treated by God. We forgive extravagantly so that when we face our judgment, we can say we extended great mercy, and we hope to receive such extravagant mercy too. So, while we can live in this world, we should try not to be of this world – totally focused on ourselves and showing no compassion or mercy toward those around us or holding people in check with strings tied to our mercy and love and forgiveness.

Homework! After being nourished at the table of God’s Word and the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following questions this week.

  1. First, have you ever felt unworthy of God’s mercy?
  2. Second, reflecting on your relationships, can you forgive especially when the other person doesn’t deserve mercy?

I think our homework today will help us live the mercy and love of Jesus Christ in our lives. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!