{"id":1221,"date":"2013-11-03T09:55:12","date_gmt":"2013-11-03T14:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1221"},"modified":"2013-11-03T09:55:12","modified_gmt":"2013-11-03T14:55:12","slug":"homily-31st-sunday-in-ordinary-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/homily-31st-sunday-in-ordinary-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Homily – 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

31st<\/sup> Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C<\/a>
\nWisdom 11:22-12:2
\n2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2
\nLuke 19:1-10
\nNovember 3, 2013<\/p>\n

Zacchaeus was seen as a sinner.\u00a0 He was a tax collector and tax collectors were known for their extortion.\u00a0 In those days, extortion was almost expected but yet still was stealing and thus broke the commandment.\u00a0 To add to his bad reputation, he was the chief tax collector, taken as a sign that he was amongst the worst of the sinners.<\/p>\n

Yet when Zacchaeus heard Jesus was coming, he very much wanted to see Jesus.<\/p>\n

Of course, there were great crowds around Jesus.\u00a0 Zacchaeus was short and he couldn\u2019t see Jesus through the crowds.\u00a0 If Zacchaeus was such a terrible person, he probably won\u2019t have cared about seeing Jesus.<\/p>\n

But he did care!\u00a0 His interest in seeing Jesus was strong enough to motivate him to climb the sycamore tree.\u00a0 Since he was short, climbing the tree might have been a great effort and certainly would not be something a person with the position of chief tax collector would do.\u00a0 It would be embarrassing.<\/p>\n

When he does so, it is Jesus who first speaks to him and tells him he will stay at his house.\u00a0 Shocking!\u00a0 Jesus associating with a sinner.<\/p>\n

Zacchaeus is so moved as to offer half his possessions to the poor and to repay any extortion four times over.\u00a0 Clearly, he is sorry for anything he has extorting and turns his heart to Jesus.<\/p>\n

Zacchaeus may be short in physical height but now he shows a huge amount of faith.<\/p>\n

We all know what it is like to be short in physical health.\u00a0 We all start out short as little babies.\u00a0 To relate to how Zacchaeus struggled to see Jesus through the crowds, all any of us has to do is remember our own childhood and going to a parade.\u00a0 If we weren\u2019t in the front, we missed the entire parade.<\/p>\n

We grow up, not all to the same size, but to whatever height we \u201cinherited.\u201d\u00a0 In God\u2019s eyes our physical height doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if we are four-foot six or six feet nine.<\/p>\n

God is infinite.\u00a0 We are finite creatures.\u00a0 No matter how big we are physically, we are nothing compared to God\u2026 nothing compared to God<\/i>.<\/p>\n

We might wonder if that is exactly how God looks at us.\u00a0 Do we seem like nothing to God?\u00a0 If we feel like God isn\u2019t answering our prayers, we might think God doesn\u2019t care because we are nothing.<\/p>\n

Not hardly.\u00a0 We are created by God and God does not create anything He does not love.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it is hard for us to be aware of God\u2019s love.\u00a0 When we have done something wrong we might think we are not worthy of God\u2019s love.\u00a0 We are worthy of God\u2019s love but only because God makes us worthy.<\/p>\n

We might think if we just behave a little better, then God will love us.\u00a0 Sometimes, when people realize they keep committing the same sins over and over, they stop going to Confession, thinking they will try and change.\u00a0 If they do better, they will go to Confession.\u00a0 Till then, why bother?<\/p>\n

Why bother?\u00a0 Because God is the one who can make us worthy.\u00a0 We must do our part but we need God\u2019s help.<\/p>\n

We are called by God to do great things but we can only accomplish such greatness when we are humble enough to realize we can\u2019t do it by ourselves.\u00a0 We need God\u2019s help.<\/p>\n

We need God\u2019s help in different ways.\u00a0 Maybe we aren\u2019t big enough physically to do something.\u00a0 God may help us by giving us a friend or co-worker who is.<\/p>\n

We won\u2019t have all the skills we need but God will send us people who do, working together, have what it takes.<\/p>\n

Do you think you know everything you need to about our faith?\u00a0 Well, you probably don\u2019t but if you think you do, then your heart may be closed to learning more about God.<\/p>\n

God can only help us when we realize and accept what we are lacking.\u00a0 If we think we have everything it takes, we close ourselves off to God and to others.<\/p>\n

Humility.\u00a0 Only when we admit that we are short in stature do we allow God to do great things in us.\u00a0 We need to stop trying to be great ourselves and just try to be faithful.\u00a0 Then God will make us great.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C Wisdom 11:22-12:2 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2 Luke 19:1-10 November 3, 2013 Zacchaeus was seen as a sinner.\u00a0 He was a tax collector and tax collectors were known for their extortion.\u00a0 In those days, extortion was almost expected but yet still was stealing and thus broke the commandment.\u00a0 To add …<\/p>\n

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