{"id":3019,"date":"2019-11-03T12:27:31","date_gmt":"2019-11-03T17:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=3019"},"modified":"2019-11-03T12:27:31","modified_gmt":"2019-11-03T17:27:31","slug":"31st-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/31st-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

31<\/a>st<\/a><\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C<\/a>
Wisdom 11:22-12:2
Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13, 14 (see 1)
2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2
Luke 19:1-10
November 3, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few years\nago, I was ministering in a parish that had a school.  One of the things we would do was bring each\nclassroom to the church for a tour.  One\nday we brought the three-year olds from the PreK program.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of\nthe tour we would put them in the pews to talk about when to sit, stand, and\nkneel.  We showed them how to put the\nkneelers down.  When they knelt, not a\nsingle one of them could see over the top of the pew.  I couldn\u2019t even see the top of their\nheads.  They were too \u201cshort in stature<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We might all\nrelate to going to parades as kids and, if we weren\u2019t in the front row, we\ncouldn\u2019t see anything because we were \u201cshort\nin stature<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those\nmemories are from our young childhood when we were still growing.  Today we hear about Zacchaeus who is full\ngrown but still \u201cshort in stature<\/em>.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we are \u201cshort in stature<\/em>,\u201d we might feel\ninsignificant, like people don\u2019t even notice us.  Wisdom speaks of this in spiritual terms when\nit says, \u201cBefore the LORD the whole\nuniverse is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew<\/em>.\u201d  One might see the single grain or drop of dew\nas insignificant.  We might feel\ninsignificant before God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spiritually,\nZacchaeus would have been seen as a sinner because he was \u201ca chief tax collector<\/em>.\u201d  As a\nsinner, he would have been treated as an outcast, without good spiritual status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In earthly\nterms he was a wealthy man.  For that he\nwould have held some status.  He would\nnot have been insignificant and he would have been expected to act in the\nproper way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he heard\nthat Jesus was nearby, Zacchaeus \u201cwas\nseeking to see who Jesus was<\/em>\u201d but being \u201cshort in stature<\/em>\u201d, he could not see through the crowds.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He may have\nbeen a sinner but his desire to see Jesus was strong enough for him to put\naside decorum and run ahead to a tree which he climbed up in order to see Jesus.  Decorum would have said no rich man would run\nor climb a tree to see someone.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zacchaeus\u2019\neffort did not go unnoticed.  Jesus tells\nhim \u201ccome down quickly, for today I must\nstay at your house.<\/em>\u201d  At Jesus\u2019\nwords, Zacchaeus was filled with joy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why was Jesus\nwilling to overlook Zacchaeus\u2019 sins and have mercy on him.  Because, as Wisdom says God \u201cloves all things.<\/em>\u201d  God creates us in love.  God did not create and then walk away.  God continues to love us and thus He\ncontinues to sustain us.  God walks with\nus always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom speaks\nof God overlooking people\u2019s sins.  Jesus\ndid not hold Zacchaeus\u2019 sins against him but in overlooking them, Jesus did not <\/em><\/strong>ignore\nhis sins.  Jesus comes to help us\novercome sin.  He comes, as Wisdom says\nto \u201cwarn them and remind them of the sins\nthey are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you,\nO LORD!<\/em>\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus came \u201cto seek and to save what was lost.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we\nexpect a sinner to change if they do not come to Church and hear the gospel\nproclaimed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jews had\nbeen taught to avoid sinners.  Why?  To avoid the near occasions of sin<\/em><\/strong>.  We need to avoid what leads us to sin but\nthis must be balanced against trying to help the sinner repent.  We should not go to places that may cause us\nto sin but we must open the doors to our churches for any sinner who, like\nZacchaeus, is seeking Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This does not\nmean we ignore their sins.  We need to hate\nthe sin, but love the sinner.  They need\nto hear the Truth, the truth of right and wrong and the Truth that God loves\nthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is this not\nwhat we all want to hear, that God loves us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zacchaeus was\nseen as a sinner but allowed God to transform him.  He put effort into seeking Jesus.  How much effort do you put into seeking\nJesus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality\nis that we are all sinners.  We are all in\nneed of God\u2019s mercy.  We need God to make\nus \u201cworthy of his calling and powerfully\nbring to fulfillment every good purpose.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year CWisdom 11:22-12:2Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13, 14 (see 1)2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2Luke 19:1-10November 3, 2019 A few years ago, I was ministering in a parish that had a school.  One of the things we would do was bring each classroom to the church for a tour.  One day we brought …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[491,82],"tags":[653,654],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-MH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3019"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3020,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019\/revisions\/3020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}