Homily for Sunday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/110407.shtml

Jesus was headed to Jerusalem, and the little town of Jericho was not that important of a stop. The great paschal events were to happen in Jerusalem – the trial, the way of the cross, the resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. All the most important things were to happen in Jerusalem, and by the time the Lord arrived at Jericho, Luke has told us over and over that Jesus had resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem. It is true that while in Galilee preaching the kingdom, Jesus often told his disciples when they ascertained his true identity as the son of God, not to tell anyone who He was, for He did not want to get dragged to Jerusalem too soon before He had a chance to teach his disciples about the kingdom of heaven. But Luke tells us clearly that by the time the Lord gets to Jericho, He is moving with determination; he intended to pass through Jericho, which makes his overnight stay at the house of Zaccheus all the more surprising, and all the more significant.
Jesus goes out of his way to seek out and to stay at the house of this wee little, miserable man, Zaccheus, who because of his greed had a little life indeed, a life with no friends. Everyone would see Zaccheus as a waste of Jesus’ time, given the enormity of his mission as the Messiah, and the growing anticipation of his arrival in Jerusalem. Sure, early on in Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, maybe Zaccheus would have been worth a few minutes of Jesus’ time, but to dine at his house and to stay with him overnight at this crucial juncture. It didn’t make any sense. This would be like the Jayhawks driving for a game winning touchdown against Missouri, and then calling a timeout so they could go inside and use the restroom. And yet when Jesus looked up the sycamore tree, he did not see a worthless person, he saw a child of Abraham, our father in faith. He saw in Zaccheus a mustard seed’s worth of faith, and he took the opportunity to show his disciples how to seek and to save what was lost. Zaccheus’ tiny bit of faith in climbing that tree was enough for our Lord to consider coming under Zaccheus’ roof.
Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and I shall be healed. I know this is not exactly what we say before we receive the Holy Eucharist, but it is what the Latin says, and what most of the world says, before receiving the blessed Sacrament. And sometime soon, we will be saying it as well in the American Church. Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and I shall be healed. The Lord stands ready in tonight’s Holy Eucharist to come under our roofs. And just in case coming to dine with us isn’t surprising enough, the Lord humbles himself further by not only becoming our guest, but also becoming the very food that we eat.
As we receive the Holy Eucharist tonight, we should ask that having the Lord come under our roofs would have the same effect in our lives that it had in the life of Zaccheus. Because the Lord came to visit him, Zaccheus became a righteous man, a man of charity, a man who loved the kingdom of heaven more than the kingdom of earth. The same thing is supposed to happen to us when we receive the Eucharist; we are to be blown away and transformed by the miracle and the mystery that is before us. In our first reading from the book of Wisdom, we are reminded that before the Lord, the whole universe is like a kernel of grain or a drop of morning dew. We are reminded that if the Lord ever stopped thinking of us and loving us, our lives and our universe would vanish in a second. We are so insignificant compared to the glory of the Lord, and yet that Lord comes under our roofs tonight, and becomes our food. We are reminded that the Lord who loves us beyond all imagination will do 99.999% of the work, if only we have faith the size of a mustard seed. The Lord says to us, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, I will accomplish amazing things within you.
The tremendous conversion in the life of Zaccheus reminds us that we often do not bring much faith to bear when we approach the Lord Jesus in the sacraments. Even though we know our Lord is really present through the sacrament of reconciliation, and especially in the sacrament of the Eucharist, we oftentimes do not bring enough faith to come out of the interior rooms of our pride and selfishness. Much less do we find the humility, courage, faith and curiosity to climb the sycamore tree in order to see the Lord more clearly. In Jesus’ visit to Zaccheus, we are reminded that the Lord of all the universe will go to any length to reach out and to save what is lost. Will we have enough faith to let him find us?