Preached by Sister Rebecca
Holy Wisdom Chapel
Holy Wisdom Chapel
Luke
19:1-10
Two Sundays ago, the Christmas
liturgical season officially ended with the Feast of the Elder Simeon’s
Encounter with the infant Jesus in the Temple.
Today, a new liturgical season opens its door to us. It is the very first announcement of Lent,
where the Gospel speaks of another Encounter – that of the adult Jesus with the
man called Zacchaeus.
However, unlike Simeon, this man, was one of ill repute. He was a tribute collector for the Roman
oppressor, which was tantamount to being a spy and a traitor. And not only this, he was known to add his
own sizable “administration fee.”
Today’s Gospel starts with Zacchaeus
learning that this famous Jesus is coming to town. His curiosity perks up, and he wants to see
this Jesus. However, Zacchaeus realizes
that he is so short he would never get a glimpse of Jesus over the heads of the
crowd. Driven by a sudden impulse, he
seizes upon an opportunity of getting for himself a first-class seat by
climbing up a sycamore tree. As Jesus comes close to the tree where Zacchaeus is
perched, Jesus suddenly looks up and sees him.
Zacchaeus’ desire is such that it literally forces Jesus’
attention. Jesus’ gaze must have ripped
his heart wide open, and he sees beyond his little self, his persona, to what
Jesus sees within him: a deep wellspring of goodness and potential to become
who he really is. And to make this
experience tangible to him, Jesus calls Zacchaeus down from the tree, telling
him he must come and stay at his home today.
We can only imagine Zacchaeus’ joy as he scrambles down the tree to the
feet of Jesus to welcome him.
When we reflect on Jesus’ encounter with
Zacchaeus, he doesn’t belittle or humiliate him. Instead, he treats him like an intimate
friend, inviting himself into his home.
Jesus does this even prior to any word of repentance or regret from
Zacchaeus or any expression of resolve to change his ways. Perhaps Zacchaeus only started out with a
spark of simple curiosity, but in following through, he ends up with his heart
opening, healed, and transformed. Then
and only then he sees his wrongdoings with new eyes, and he not only renounces
his past wrongdoing, he also makes generous amends with those he has fleeced, from
whom he has lined his pockets.
Zacchaeus’
desire to see Jesus actually draws Christ’s gaze to him. What does this tell us
of the power of desire? Is this Gospel
today inviting us to desire that which is deepest in us, beyond our personas in
this world, beckoning us to feel our thirst and hunger for the Divine, who is
the very luminous Ground of our being, whether we are conscious of it or
not? At the deepest level of our being,
it is God who incites desire within us, cracking open the heart and allowing us
to see the light, and this Light is the light of Love.
Today’s Gospel invites us to go inward. As we do so, we will most certainly become
aware of our character deficiencies. But
if we stay on the surface of our being, our personas, we will be short sighted.
We are not healed, or transformed, by confronting all of our wounds and
selfishness head-on, which could overwhelm us and drown us in discouragement.
Going deeper to our center, our hearts, what
might Christ’s gaze awaken in us?
Where in our life does God's goodness and beauty most shine through?
When we perceive our God-given true nature, we are motivated to be who we truly
are, and our desire, even if only a spark, will fan into an ever-larger flame
that eventually will become a fire that cauterizes our faults, enabling us to
grow to our deepest potential, to what makes us whole –
humanly, spiritually, and morally.
May we approach our Lenten journeys with enlightened
inner eyes and see our God-given goodness and beauty of soul. By keeping our
inner eyes focused on Christ we will naturally want to challenge ourselves and,
when appropriate, others, not with shame bearing and harsh criticism, but with
the desire to love ourselves and others as Christ loves us. And this love bears fruit that gives us and
the whole world New Life.
Notes: Zacchaeus’ name in Hebrew
means: innocent, pure. No matter how a
person thinks or behaves the soul remains pure, and untarnished. Within every person is the potential to
become the one they are called to reflect in life: the image and likeness of
God dwelling in the depths of one’s soul.
One of the prayers recited
upon awakening by a pious Jew is:
“My, God, the soul You
placed in me is pure.
You created it, You formed
it, You breathed it into me,
and You guard it while it
is within me. ..
Blessed are You, Lord, who
restores souls to lifeless bodies.”
From The Koren Sacks Siddur with Introduction, translation,
and commentary by: Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
I am grateful for some
insights received from Fr. Ronald Rohlheiser’s homily on this passage on November 17, 2003.
