ALLOWING GOD TO FIND ME
Wisdom 11:22-12:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10
John Powell writes about Tommy, a student in his theology of faith class at Chicago’s Loyola University. Tommy, Powell writes, was the “atheist in residence” and a serious pain in the back bench!
At the end of the course, he asked: “Do you think I’ll ever find God?” Powell emphatically said: “No!” and added: “Tommy! I don’t think you’ll ever find him, but I am certain that he will find you!” Tommy left Powell’s class and life.
Sometime later, Powell heard that Tommy had terminal cancer. He returned to Powell to tell him that God had found him. When the cancer was detected, Tommy said he “got serious about locating God… and began banging bloody fists against the bronze doors of heaven. But God did not come out.” Then “one day I turned around and God was there. He didn’t come to me when I pleaded with him… Apparently God does things in his own way and at his own hour. But he was there. He found me. He found me even after I stopped looking for him.” Tommy found God when he opened his heart to love his own father and the people to whom he was close.
The story of Zacchaeus is like Tommy’s. Zacchaeus went in search of Jesus the wonder worker… and God found him. Rather, he allowed God to find him when he opened his heart to love the poor.
Two questions!
Why does God—the hound of heaven—seek us and wait till we allow ourselves to be found? We have an answer in the First Reading: “You have mercy on all… and you overlook people’s sins that they may repent. For you love all things…” Love is the reason why God waits for us; love does not compel.
Why do we take so long to allow God to find us? Perhaps because God challenges us to change, and we don’t like/ want to change! Luke probably intends the story of Zacchaeus as a contrast to the earlier story of the rich young man (18:18-23). Both are rich and look for Jesus. The young man has observed the commandments from his youth; Zacchaeus is a tax collector and a sinner. The young man is saddened by Jesus’ challenge to sell his possessions and follow him; Zacchaeus responds with joy and repentance to Jesus’ invitation to stay at his house.
Today’s liturgy reminds us that God constantly seeks us and waits for us to respond to his love.
Will I allow God to find me? Will I change my life and open my heart to love? What is the change that I need in my life?
May you and I do this so that the Lord can say: “Today salvation has come to this house”!
Jesus speaks “this parable to those who were fully convinced of their righteousness”! Holiness or righteousness is not about what we do and achieve. It is about recognizing our need for God. It is what happens when we bring our emptiness before him and let him pour his love into us. It’s only then we – like the tax collector – are justified, that is, set right with God.
The first reading from Sirach reiterates this truth: “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal.”
In the second reading, Paul boasts that he has finished the race and that the crown of righteousness awaits him. But he boasts in the Lord.
Do I tell God what I have done for him? Do I compare myself with others convinced of my righteousness?
Or do I stand humbly before God, with full awareness of my nothingness, and acknowledge his goodness, love and mercy to me?
By: Fr. Dr. Vinod Mascarenhas SDB
XXX SUNDAY OF THE YEAR: 23 October 2022
HOLINESS/PRAYER IS NOT WHAT I DO
Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14
A man boasted to a spiritual master that he had achieved quite a degree of holiness: “I rise early in the morning; I fast from food and drink; I work tirelessly, and I discipline myself with a whip.”
The spiritual master walked with him through a field and pointed to a donkey. He said: “That donkey rose early in the morning. It hasn’t been fed or given a drink. It has worked tirelessly and has been whipped.” He asked the man: “What makes you any different from that ass?”
We could assume that we can become “holy” primarily through our efforts – good deeds, sacrifice and penance, the sacraments – and become proud. Today’s gospel reminds us that holiness isn’t about self-actualization, that there’s more to holiness than doing good deeds!
The Pharisee in the parable did all the good practices he listed, which have their merit. The problem is
- his “prayer” is an advertisement for himself with too many I’s (six!); the subject of his prayer is not God but himself!
- his “holier-than-thou” attitude.
- he thought his actions justified him; he did not need God’s mercy and love.
The tax collector knew that he was a poor sinner and that he needed God’s grace/mercy and love to help him.
Jesus speaks “this parable to those who were fully convinced of their righteousness”! Holiness or righteousness is not about what we do and achieve. It is about recognizing our need for God. It is what happens when we bring our emptiness before him and let him pour his love into us. It’s only then we – like the tax collector – are justified, that is, set right with God.
The first reading from Sirach reiterates this truth: “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal.”
In the second reading, Paul boasts that he has finished the race and that the crown of righteousness awaits him. But he boasts in the Lord.
Do I tell God what I have done for him? Do I compare myself with others convinced of my righteousness?
Or do I stand humbly before God, with full awareness of my nothingness, and acknowledge his goodness, love and mercy to me?
By: Fr. Dr. Vinod Mascarenhas SDB
