Gospel: : Luke 19: 1-10.
Year C
There was a man named Zaccheus….
He is a small man … he will have to climb a tree to see Jesus! Zaccheus: his name means ”God remembers”. Rightly, You will remember him, Jesus, all the more so because Your preferences are for the small people … and also for sinners, as in the case of Zaccheus. His profession cast him in the category of sinner, because there was the permanent temptation to make money at the expense of others, and it put him in contact with pagans, the Roman occupiers. For You, Lord, he is a lost sheep who must be brought back to the fold… he is a son of Abraham whose dignity must be restored. Grant us this same insight, Your insight, for seeing others, and not to “categorise” them among sinners …..
He wanted to see what kind of man Jesus was …
The desire to see You must have been very strong for him to leave his banking office, to put aside his reputation as Chief Collector of Taxes without being bothered about what people would say on seeing him perched in a tree…. How great is my desire to see You, Lord? Let me hasten to meet You at Mass, with the enthusiasm of Zaccheus.
Jesus called to him : come down quickly … I want to stay at your house!
If Zaccheus wants to see You, Lord, You also want it, and even more that he does: I must stay at your house! It is not only for a meal that You invite Yourself. It is in his heart that You want to live, to live permanently. You explain this to those who complain: The Son of man has come to seek out and save what was lost.
Remember, Jesus Saviour, all the Zaccheuses of the world. Let Your call resound to the depth of all hearts: I want to stay with you!
You do it especially through the Eucharist. Through It, You invite us to your home: Whoever eats My Flesh … lives in Me and I in him (Jn.6:56). May our meeting with You at Mass, at Adoration, transform us like it transformed the publican of Jericho.
