Gospel Lectio Divina for Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 30, 2022
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
READ
At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
"He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner."
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over."
And Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost.""
MEDITATE
Zacchaeus … was seeking to see who Jesus was
Who is Jesus? We could say he is a great moral teacher, a miracle worker, a religious leader, the founder of Christianity, or many other things. We could say he is all those things and still not say he is Lord and God. Thomas needed to see the nail marks in his hands before he could believe. Many who are ready to believe still have doubts. Zacchaus wanted to believe, and Jesus sensed that desire. Do I have a desire to believe? Do I want to know Jesus better as Zacchaeus did?
today I must stay at your house.
It is a bit strange to essentially demand an invitation to stay at one’s house, but think of what Jesus is doing here. Jesus must stay at Zacchaeus’ house because Zacchaeus is genuinely seeking God and Jesus promises that he who seeks will find. Jesus must stay at Zacchaeus’ house to fulfill his promise to those who seek him. His obligation is based on Zacchaeus’ request and the quest for Jesus. Do I seek Jesus with such eagerness? If he is all that he says he is–if he is the way, the truth, and the life–then yes, I do. But do I believe that he is all of these things? My heart seeks with the same urgency as Zacchaeus, but would I open my house and my heart up to Jesus if I had the chance to meet him? I can only hope that Jesus would help my unbelief in such a moment.
And he came down quickly and received him with joy
Many times God has responded to me, I believe. When he does, I receive his answers with joy. Then the joy fades and I forget. For this reason I try to keep a prayer journal to record the responses God gives to my prayers.
How do we receive the Lord? When we go up to receive him in Communion, we are taught to have humility. But what about having joy? Zacchaus also received an answer to his prayer, in a way, when he sought to see who Jesus was and Jesus gave him the chance to get to know him by arranging a stay at Zacchaeus’ house. Jesus is always giving us chances to know him better. Are we open to those opportunities?
Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.
It is difficult to tithe, and yet Zacchaeus vows to give not only a tenth of his income, but half to the poor. He understands the gospel message. Jesus sees his willing and generous heart and rewards him, but that is besides the point. Jesus must have known that Zacchaeus would have been generous even without the guarantee of a reward, because without a purely selfless heart Jesus would not have granted him salvation.
This is where the true core of faith is tested. A true man of faith knows that even if he ends up being wrong about what he believes in, he has still served a good greater than his own self interests. The fulfillment of the hope connected to his faith–in this case, salvation–is not the only reason for his generosity. Zacchaeus also knows that his faith in Christ serves all that is good in the world–and the universe–and his hope of salvation is second to serving the poor. His reason for donating to the poor is essential. A student can serve at a soup kitchen to garner community service hours, while having no other reason for serving the poor. But garnering salvation is not like fulfilling community service hour requirements. In fact, it’s not right to say we’ve won or garnered salvation at all. To receive salvation our hearts and Jesus’ hearts have to be the same. We have to be in communion with him, to be part of his body. Jesus granted Zacchaeus salvation, not because he earned it by donating to the poor, but because his heart for the poor was like God’s. Second to that desire to help the poor was his desire to be with the Lord for eternity. This is the only way Jesus would have granted him salvation. We do not receive salvation through good works. If that were the case then we could just do the good works while having selfish intentions, and that is not aligning our hearts with God’s heart.
Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
We receive salvation when we become one with the Lord, when our desires match his desires. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own son to do the will of God. God sacrificed his own son, while knowing that there will still be many people who do not accept his offer of salvation. In the same way, we have to do the will of God while not expecting anything in return. We can hope for eternal life, but even that hope must be secondary to the hope of fulfilling God’s will. God is just and merciful, and he will reward everyone according to their good deeds, but that cannot be why we do the good deeds. It is a difficult paradox, but the truth of it resounds in real life the more we think about it. We can sense someone’s intentions when they do a good deed. We ask ourselves, are they doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, or will they expect something in return? God is the same way. Not until he sees the purity of our hearts, not until he sees that we do good for no reason other than to do good, will salvation be ours. Our faith and hope of heaven are just that–faith and hope. Let’s not take heaven for granted. Let’s not mistake hope for expectation.
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.
Jesus was seeking Zacchaeus just as he was seeking Jesus. As a tax collector, perhaps he became lost in his concern for money in the not-so-distant past. Jesus came to save him, but he also came to save all of us who are lost. Zacchaeus’s story is a microcosm of a conversion story many of us have experienced. We sought truth and we found Jesus, received him with joy, devoted our lives to serving him and others, and received salvation.
PRAY
Lord,
Thank you for the salvation you offer if I just give my life to you. Please help me to have the faith needed to devote myself anew to you everyday. Seeking you is hard in today’s world, but with your guidance you will show me that you are right beside me the whole way. Bless my quest after you. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
LISTEN
If we want to seek and find Jesus we have to listen for him. Where is he in today’s world? He is in the tabernacle, in his word (the Bible), in his creation, and he lives in baptized Christians as the Holy Spirit. Will we be like Zacchaeus when he comes our way, and climb a sycamore tree (metaphorically speaking) just to catch a better glimpse as he passes by? Will we receive him with joy when we get the chance? In all of these ways, we can strengthen our relationship with him, if we are just willing to invite him into our hearts–and our house. Have we blessed our homes? Do we set aside time daily to pray, to invite him in like Zacchaeus invited him? Is he a part of our lives? I can’t expect to find him or hear him if I am not embracing the opportunities to do so that he presents.
Kilby is a freelance writing from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report.
