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THE CALL TO REACH OUT TO INSIGNIFICANT, DIFFICULT AND LOWLY PEOPLE - stephenkhoo - 11-04-2013 02:33 PM
THE CALL TO REACH OUT TO INSIGNIFICANT, DIFFICULT AND LOWLY PEOPLE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: WISD 11:22-12:2; TH 1:11-2:2; LK 19:1-10
http://www.universalis.com/20131103/mass.htm
It is only natural to favour a good child over a naughty one, a good student over a poor one, and a well-behaved man over an uncouth man. Yes, good and important people impress us but we prefer not to mix with insignificant and troublesome people. We want to be seen with respectable and influential people. Some of us are even ashamed of our own parents because they are not so well dressed or educated. When we behave in this manner, then we are no better than the Pharisees in today’s gospel. They too avoided associating with sinners and people with low reputation for fear that they might be identified with them and thereby compromise their standing in society.
Such was the situation of Zacchaeus in today’s gospel story. We are told that “he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man” but of course much hated and rejected by people. He must have been a very lonely and dejected man. Despised and ostracized, he only retreated further. This explains why he was hiding away from the crowd. He was never given a chance to love and be accepted. This resulted in him having a poor self-esteem. His sense of unworthiness is seen in the way he reacted to Jesus. This explains why “he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way.” In his mind, he thought of himself as completely undeserving of Jesus’ attention except perhaps to have a glimpse of Jesus.
But it is to such people who feel unworthy that today’s liturgy is addressed. The first reading reminds us that although we are insignificant, “like a grain of dust that tips the scales, like a drop of morning dew falling on the ground”, yet God counts us important. We exist only because we are important in His eyes. The author of Wisdom says that God holds nothing of what He has made in abhorrence, for had he hated anything; He would not have formed it. Thus He declares, “You spare all things because all things are yours, Lord, lover of life, you whose imperishable spirit is in all.”
This was certainly the way of Jesus too. Even though Zacchaeus was a sinner, was short, insignificant and undeserving of His attention, yet He singled him out of the crowd. He did not ignore him simply because he was not living a good and holy life. He did not try to dissociate Himself from him even though others were cynical when they saw Him reaching out to him. Jesus did not care what they thought, since for Him, Zacchaeus too was a son of Abraham and He “has come to seek out and save what was lost.“ So we can imagine how happy and honoured Zacchaeus must have been to be recognized. He was so touched when Jesus noticed him. Like God, Jesus came for the outcast and those ostracized by society. Every one was important to Him and He regarded everyone personally.
Secondly, the scriptures proclaim that God loves all including sinners. Even in our sinfulness, grace is present. He is merciful to all, because He can do all things and overlook man’s sins. God is patient with us and wants us all to share in His life. The Lord wants us to repent and be converted. He does not want us to die or live an aimless and meaningless life. He helps us at times by allowing us to go through the trials in life so that we can learn from our sorrows, recognize the power of God and the consequences of sin. “Little by little, therefore, you correct those who offend, you admonish and remind them of how they have sinned, so that they may abstain from evil and trust in you, Lord.” But this must not be mistaken as God’s punishment. He does not punish us because we have sinned. Rather, our sufferings are the result and consequence of our foolish actions. God loves us too much to want to see us suffer, just as parents would not want to see their children suffer as well.
But even if we suffer because of our sins, we must realize that it is also the grace of God working in us. For it is better to suffer now and come to our consciousness than to destroy ourselves completely. Sufferings are not meant to make us bitter but better. They are meant to awaken us to our consciousness since many of us cannot understand unless we suffer. More often than not, it is through sufferings in life, broken relationships, and mistakes made that we come to know ourselves better and see our foolishness and blindness.
Thirdly, we are told that God goes beyond just seeing us suffer but He takes the initiative to reach out to us even in our sinfulness and unworthiness. As if it was not already a great surprise for Jesus to notice Zacchaeus, Jesus went further and called out to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.’ That must have been the happiest day of his life for, “he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully.” Of course, the people around him grumbled, “He has gone to stay at a sinner’s house.” But aren’t we the same too because at every Mass before communion we say, “Lord I am not worthy to receive you,” to have you come under my roof, so said the centurion.
The result was conversion. So joyful and happy was Zacchaeus that he was converted and transformed. Yes, it was Jesus’ graciousness and goodness that eventually converted him. He was overwhelmed by His love, concern and acceptance in spite of his unworthiness. The love of Jesus restored his self-esteem. He began to love himself again. And when he did, he lived a dignified life by making a decision to live an honest and upright life. Hence, he said to Jesus, “Look, Sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody, I will pay him back four times the amount.”
And the response of Jesus was one of gladness, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham.” In other words, this man has come back home. He has always been a son of Abraham, a son of God but he had forgotten the dignity of his sonship. His sins had made him feel unworthy to be called a son of God. Now forgiven and reconciled, he was whole again. Yes, to be saved means to be restored to our original dignity of being God’s children whom He loves because He created us.
What are the implications for us? Firstly, for those of us supposedly good and righteous Catholics, instead of feeling envious like the Pharisees “who complained when they saw what happened”, we must be kind to such people and feel happy for them when they return home. Hence, instead of feeling smug, complimenting and praising ourselves like the self-righteous Pharisees, we must be humble to realize that everything is but by the grace of God. Consequently, we must realize and thank God for the graces that we have and our gratitude to Him is that we wish this same grace for others as well. If God treats us thus, then we too are called to reach out to the difficult people, the criminals and drug addicts, since they too are the sons of Abraham and the children of God.
Secondly, for those of us who have very low self-esteem or feel that we are unworthy sinners, then we must find courage to seek out Jesus. The path of conversion does not exempt us from co-operating with the grace of God. God will not force us to welcome Him and be reconciled with Him. But He will give us the opportunity, just as He gave Zacchaeus the occasion. But like Zacchaeus, we must be sincere in wanting Jesus to come into our lives. We cannot simply sit at home, paralyzed, bemoaning the fact that we are stupid, useless, unloved or that we are great sinners. No, we must do something about our situation.
So if we are still staying away from Church, from Jesus, or the sacraments or just feeling rejected and unloved, then the gospel is addressed to us in a special way. We must make some effort to pray the scriptures, receive the sacraments, pray and make contact with those who can help and enlighten us. In other words, we must be open to the grace of God. Zacchaeus did not simply sit in his house and wait for Jesus to knock at his door. Grace requires that we also cooperate with God. Thus, St Paul exhorts us to “pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call.”
Yes, let those of us who are blessed with the grace of God, those of us who are sinners or feel insignificant, beg in prayer for the grace of conversion and the experience of His overpowering and unconditional love. Only God can make us worthy of His call, and only by His power can our desire for goodness be fulfilled. Indeed, it is through faith in Him and in His love that we will have the power to live out the good news in our lives. Without this fundamental faith that God loves us unconditionally even if we are sinners, no real conversion is possible.
Most of all, we must begin now. We must respond to the grace of God whilst we have the opportunity. We cannot delay any longer and wait until our deathbed. It might be too late. It would be foolish to think that that day would not come until the end of the world. This was the warning given by St Paul when he said, “please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived.” No, we cannot afford to wait for the last day because any day can be our last day. Let us grasp the opportunity and start living the good life now and share this good life with others.