31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2016

Wisdom 11:22-12:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10

Salvific Curiosity: Finding Yourself on the Tree of Life With Zacchaeus

There was a beggar, who heard that a king was passing by his village. Early that morning, he got out of bed and readied himself and went out to sit by the roadside, waiting to beg for alms from the king. Sure enough, the king stopped his entourage by the siting beggar. Instead of giving something to the beggar, the king begged some beans of the beggar, since the beggar was picking his beans in a tray while waiting. In response, the beggar said to the king that the king was sufficiently rich not to need to beg from a poor beggar. However, from the insistence of the king, the beggar gave the king a grain of beans, the king thanked the beggar and continued on his journey. The beggar was disappointed in the stinginess of the king, because the king did not give him anything, so he abandoned his begging for the day, because he considered what just happened a bad omen for begging that day. Arriving at home, he decided to pick out the dirt from his beans before cooking it. Just then, he realized something shining in the middle of his beans. Not knowing what it is, he took it to his neighbor who told him it was gold. It was only then he realized that the king had given him one piece of gold in return for one grain of beans, and he regretted not giving all the beans to the king, in order to get many pieces of gold!

From our story above, it is important to know that no one is too poor to have something to offer to others, especially to God. This wisdom is very important. To start with, God, the eternal King, was the first to offer a special gift to his creatures – immortality – which human beings do not sufficiently cherish; this is the contention of our first reading today, how human beings do not appreciate the immortality given to them by God.

Today, our first reading continues, from last Sunday, its lessons on wisdom, the wisdom of God which reveals to us that human beings are immortal because God’s immortal spirit dwells in them. In other words, immortality is a gift from God, and a gift of God’s presence to his creatures. It is precisely this presence of God in his creatures which reveals his mercy as sustaining his sinful creatures every single day. It follows that to be alive, for a Christian, is to be joined to God through his immortal spirit in human beings. By extension, eternal death is separation from God, a divorce from the spirit of God which sustains the human person.

It is an Igbo adage that says, “if there is no sin, there wouldn’t be forgiveness.” In line with today’s first reading, it is the presence of sin that makes the mercy of God imperative and important for human beings. But where does sin come from, and what is the meaning of sin? These two questions are intertwined, in the sense that creation itself has a purpose, and when human beings fail to accept God’s definition and purpose for creation, sin occurs, and creatures become sources of sin. How is this possible? St. Augustine can help us to understand.

In the history or lives of saints, apart from Paul of Tarsus, St. Augustine of Hippo appears to be the best teacher when it comes to the power of God’s grace transforming a sinner into a saint. This is the case because St. Augustine had his fair share of sin and grace. St. Augustine’s statement, in his book, “The Confession,” says it all: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Lib. 1,1-2,2.5,5: CSEL 33, 1-5). According to St. Augustine, when the human heart gets entangled in the love of creatures and not in the love of the Creator, sin ensues because creatures become sources of sin and because their original purpose by God is overshadowed by human abuse; instead of creation being a source of blessing, original blessing, it becomes a source of curse. Listen to St. Augustine of Hippo again:

“Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you. And see, you were within and I was in the external world and sought you there, and in my unlovely state I plunged into those lovely created things which you made. You were with me, and I was not with you. The lovely things kept me far from you, though if they did not have their existence in you, they had no existence at all. You called and cried out loud and shattered my deafness.” Fornication/adultery, greed, fraud, murder, idolatry, etc. all amount to the abuse of creation, seeking creatures, rather than the Creator. Our first reading attempts to lead us to the wisdom of God, a wisdom which emphasizes the paramount importance of God in the lives of Christians. To be with God is to be wise.

St. Augustine, after his conversion, realized that inordinate attachment to creatures, rather than the Creator is the root cause of sin. This idea addresses the focal point of our first reading: wisdom is to know the purposes for which God has created things, and that the human person’s sole preoccupation is to be in constant union and relationship with God, his Creator. Interestingly, what St. Augustine learned in the 5th century A.D., which you and I are invited to learn today, was already experienced by Zachaeus in his encounter with Jesus.

Indeed, curiosity may lead to conversion. St. Augustine of Hippo was attracted to the beauty of ladies, leading him to fornication, in his sinful days. He was fascinated by education and the power of rhetorics, which brought him earthly fame and renown, but separation from God. Today, the seduction of money which led Zachaeus to be a tax collector and sinner, gave way to a repentant Zachaeus, whose encounter with Jesus pre-disposed him to give away his hard earned money to the poor. What started out as a curiosity to see who Jesus was, ended up with Jesus staying in his home. The effort to climb a sycamore tree, terminated in God’s immortal spirit dwelling in him.

Perhaps we can link up our first and gospel readings in a number of ways: 1) God gives his immortal spirit to every individual (first reading); God comes in search of every erring child of his, as he did in the case of Zachaeus (gospel). Curiosity with creatures distracts human beings from the presence of God in their lives (first reading); greed for money distracted Zachaeus and Christians today from God. 3) God is slow to punish qsinners (first reading); God took flesh in Jesus Christ to journey to meet human beings where they are at (gospel). 4) God takes the initiative to put his immortal spirit in human beings; Zachaeus takes the initiative to climb a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus.

The point of our comparison is to show that life is both a journey and a process. God reaches out to human beings, through his mercy and forgiveness, but human beings too have the responsibility to reach out to God, through little efforts, like Zachaeus climbing a sycamore tree. The beggar in our story heard the passing by of the king, and he left his house to sit by the road side to wait. The king, like Jesus in the gospel today, came to the beggar to make a request of him, just as Jesus requested to stay in Zachaeus’ house. Indeed, Jesus passes by us everyday, and invites us everyday to cherish the gift of immortality he gave to each one of us at creation. This invitation is to live virtuous lives on the earth, so that we may reign with him for all eternity.

The journey of life leads to eternity, this is where the second reading comes in, perseverance in the journey of life with all its vicissitudes. God’s immortal spirit in us is a sign of our adoption as children of God. When we realize this adoption and guard it jealously, judgment day, at the end of time, will be a thing of joy because we will be with the Lord, and never to be separated from him. Our story today reminds us that God needs our cooperation in our salvation. When we yield our whole lives to him, he will transform us into himself. Like the beggar, who only gave a grain of beans and got a piece of gold, we need to surrender every aspect of our lives to God for everything to be transformed for us. Just as the king, in the story, traveled around, so does Jesus go around to impart his blessings to those willing to wait for him and show him generosity, a generosity he will reward with eternal life.

Assignment for the Week:

Can you go for one hour adoration of the blessed sacrament this week? While there, before the blessed sacrament, do not make requests of Jesus, but wait for Jesus to make a request of you – go to listen to him, not to talk to him.