THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
(Wisdom 11:22-12:2; II Thessalonians 1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10)
There are many fascinating stories of Saint John Paul II.
The World Youth Day, 2002, occasioned one of the best. Pope John Paul arrives
in Toronto to be with countless young people for the last time in his life. He
is eighty-two years old and looks, with a swollen and distorted face, like he
is even older. At the closing mass with nearly a million people in attendance
is a twenty-four-year-old woman. She is an alcoholic, a heroin addict, and a
prostitute. She tells herself that she wants to die. Only because of some youth
in the parish near her was she attending the event. Then her life changes. As
if he were addressing her alone, she hears the pope say that he loves her. Many
men have told her they love her, but in this case -- she says later -- the man
was serious. Also, the pope tells her that God, who made all the stars in the heavens,
loves her too. He loves him so much that he wants her to spend all eternity
with Him. Listening to John Paul, the young woman no longer wants to die; on
the contrary, she now wants to live. Like Jesus in the Gospel today, Saint John
Paul II was a person capable of changing people's lives.
Throughout this Gospel of Luke simply the presence of Jesus results
in blessings. At its beginning, still within Mary's womb, his coming causes the
infant within Elizabeth to jump for joy. At its end, having met Jesus, Pilate and
Herod, who were enemies, become friends. According to the disciple on the road
to Emmaus, Jesus is "a prophet mighty in deed and word." However, he
is also as merciful as a mother to her last child. We remember how Jesus raised
to life the widow's son and how he healed the servant's ear in the Garden of
Olives. As always, Saint Paul has helpful words to describe the effect of
Jesus. He writes: “…I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme
good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” As he went to meet Paul on the road to
Damascus, Jesus seeks out Zacchaeus in the gospel today.
We need to understand the type of person Zacchaeus is. He is
not the "good tax collector" ready to help the poor save money.
Rather, he is "chief tax collector," probably the one who knows best
how to swindle people and how to defend his crimes with lies. He wants to see
Jesus not because Jesus is a holy man but because he is famous. As seeing the
king of England when he comes to your country, seeing Jesus is the thing to do
on this happy day in Jericho. But the encounter with Jesus changes Zacchaeus
forever. He's no longer going to extort anything from anyone. Rather he is
going to repay four times whatever he has defrauded in the past and give half
of his assets to the poor.
Jesus comes in search of each one of us. There are stories
of his appearances to people like Saint Thomas Aquinas when, according to a
report, he spoke to him from a crucifix. More common but still powerful is the
presence of Jesus felt in programs like the Road to Emmaus. Jesus often comes
to us through the words of the gospel or through knowing a truly holy person
like St. Teresa od Kalcuta. However, Jesus' preferred way of reaching out to us
is through the sacraments. As it is said, “When a man baptizes, it is Christ
who baptizes”. Yes, faith is necessary to recognize Christ. However, he is there.
Of the seven sacraments the one where he is most
recognizable is definitely the Eucharist. We have him first in our hand, then
we consume it. The result is not that he becomes like us but the opposite. We
become like him. Now during Halloween we can think of the bread and wine as a
costume that Jesus wears to approach us. In this case he doesn't want to take
chocolates from us. Rather, he wants to share his life with us.
