Verbum Dei UK

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

MEDITATION:

The Gospel is of Zacchaeus coming down from his tree.

It tells of the Good News that the Trinity long for us to long for Them and if we have done wrong in the past, they don't want to condemn us but to stimulate our conversion with love.

Passing through Jericho represents Christ's passing through our world. Zacchaeus was a fairly despicable character for his fellow Jews. He collected taxes for the Romans and even 'creamed off' some for himself. But he climbed up a tree in order to see Jesus. Somehow, Jesus was aware of that little guy up there seeking. Our selfishness and sin isn't nice for Christ, but He appreciates when we put in some effort in order to seek Him. Do you climb up that tree?

 

The call to come down from the tree, is like a call to 'come down' from our pride and selfishness and appreciate that we need God's Love. I'm just a simple bunch of flesh and bones - 'like a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew' as the first reading  says today (Wis 11:22 ), but God calls us to Heaven with Him. Jesus proposes the visit to the home of Zacchaeus for a meal and it's Zacchaeus himself who gets well nourished because Jesus was opening a door of friendship. He wants to open that door in us all, whether we've been good or bad, but will we welcome him in to open it?

The first reading (Wisdom 11 ) praises God's loving mercy and the second is of Paul saying that we can now all be at peace because the Lord has come to us. But will we put in the effort of seeking Him who comes to us in his Word? ...like Zacchaeus climbing the tree?

I started seeking faith years ago, and I liked it, and the amazing thing is that it keeps going on and on and gets better. In my search for happiness I've looked in music, art, nature, academics etc (and in pretty girls eyes), but I found what I was looking for only when I opened my eyes of faith in Christ. You may have a millionaires bank account but if you lack a love that lasts more than a few years, you're very poor. We need Love that lasts.

On expressing my faith, one may well ask "But how do you know?". I don't 'know' - that's why it's called faith. It's something that happens to you if you have a humble attitude - to seek. That means to listen and to trust in the will of God - to obey, giving faith a chance to bear fruit. As Jesus said with the image of the vine:"Connected to me you'll bear much fruit - but separated from me you won't".

We give thanks for the Good News of faith that we've recieved, but we shouldn't 'sit back' and think that we've recieved it all. St Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274) put it well: 'For as much knowledge as we may have recieved, the truly wise man is the one who appreciates how little he knows as yet'. God loves a seeker. And He ends up revealing a lot to them. But if people aren't seekers, then God just can't reveal things to them. Knowing God is a gift that's offered to us, but it has to be recieved and some kind of effort made. Jesus preached this: '"Everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.' (Mk 7:8).

It seems to me that from the late 20th century onwards, rather than talk against true faith, there's been a silence - people just want to be entertained thinking about other things! Many say that they don't want to 'walk in anyone's shadow', and that's good, but following Christ isn't a call to walk in a 'shadow' but in his light! People are quick to list off things that they're missing in life, but God keeps trying to give. It's also sensible to be reminding ourselves of the good things that we have recieved. That begins with the gift of life itself. We didn't invent it. It was given to us. Do we really appreciate that?

A guy was upset because he didn't like the shoes that he had to wear, and then he saw someone who had lost their feet in a car accident. He began to appreciate his shoes. I'd say the same about us. I'm in a wheelchair, but I've got lungs that work and a tremendous amount of air to breathe! And that's only a beginning. The one who gave us life, wants to keep giving. Some open the door of their hearts and become people who appreciate their lives. Then they end up recieving much more! When you ask people "How's life", the common reply is "not too bad" - "still above the grass" -  "Getting by". But is life supposed to be just that? As a medic, I was sorrry to come across the amount of 'depression' around us. Technology, and worldly wealth and so forth, have improved tremendously in the last century, but the incidence of depression has also! Suicide rates shot up between 1980 and 2000. Some are unavoidable psychiatric illnesses, but many aren't. One of the unfortunate modern mistakes is the lowering of the search for the Love of God in his Word.

God hugs our lives - with true love and respect - but also with ambitious hope. The search for Christ is linked to the search for a way to put our lives to good use. I like the autobiographical work of a famous psychiatrist Victor Frankle. He was a Jew condemned to the Aushwitz concentration camp by the Nazis. He had to do whatever medical service he could with his fellow prisoners. He noticed that those who best survived were those who had a plan in life which inspired them to struggle for survival. After the war he founded a school of psychiatric healing called 'neusitherapy'. His book is called 'Man in search of meaning'. It's healthy for all of us to ask ourselves what our plan is in life. Does it go any farther than 'a bank statement or academic C.V.? That's why Christ calls all of us today as he did the guys 2000 years ago who asked him where he lives: 'come and see'. We don't need a road map to get there! We need an attitude that is searching for Life and Love. As Jesus put it "Knock and the door will be opened".

The open arms of Jesus on the cross are a clear symbol of God trying to hug mankind. So let's approach Him! As Jesus proposed his challenging path to his followers, he used phrases like this: "If you want to achieve eternal life, then do this:...", and it's relevant that those phrases begin with "If you want to…". In other words, it shows that God doesn't impose but rather tries to stimulate us to use our lives well and teach us how to do so.

The passage through Jericho is on the way to Jerusalem, and Jesus knows that condemnation  awaits him there, but his love doesn't draw back. The door through which he longs to enter is the door of our hearts, and his tremendous self-giving within the pain and the shame of the cross opens that door in me.

The marvelous thing about God's love is that we don't just enjoy receiving but He turns us into givers… givers who receive love on giving love! We see Zacchaeus convert today, and God wants us to really believe that encounters with Christ can cure this world of so much selfishness and evil, but those encounters these days must be through us Christians. Are you aware of any important role you have to play in the human family? If not, then search! The call to the mission isn't confined to "Preach the Gospel to all nations". I've met many in life, and along with many fellow  missionaries who've been around for longer, I can say that I've never met someone 'bad' - just some people who are poorly informed - who don't realise what God wants to give them and therefore don't 'knock on that door'. But if they begin - a saint can be born.

Let's long for Christ as He longs for us (but not as my meditation is long… too long!). I can't climb a sycamore like Zacchaeus, but at least I can climb my laptop! It's not relevant, but my name in Irish actually means something like the of sycamore of Zacchaeus… 'oak tree'!

..............Dara

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