Homily — 31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

Last week, we heard the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The tax collector stood humbly in the temple, acknowledged his sinfulness, and begged the Lord for mercy. Today, we hear of a tax collector who found mercy—Zacchaeus. We don’t know whether he was aware of his sin, we don’t know why he was seeking the Lord; perhaps it was nothing more than idle curiosity which prompted him to climb into the sycamore. But in that tree began an encounter which changed his life.

Jesus saw in this man’s heart a desire which perhaps Zacchaeus himself didn’t even see. And so, he took the initiative with him—he invited himself into Zacchaeus’ life. This is always the way with our Lord. As he once said to his disciples, "You have not chosen me; I have chosen you." It is God’s grace which breaks into our lives, into our hearts. We do not seek the Lord, it is he who seeks us—he who draws us to himself.

And yet, he never forces himself on usche gives us complete freedom. Lovingly, he invites—and then waits for us to respond. Because, for grace to have its affect in our lives, we must freely choose it and cooperate with it. Zacchaeus was given a choice that day: he could have ignored the Lord’s invitation, he could have remained in the tree. But he chose to come down, he chose to accept the gift our blessed Lord extended to him. And in his joy, he responds with generosity: "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." You see, real conversion had taken place in Zacchaeus’ life. He recognized that the Lord had given him a great gift: forgiveness of his sin; and, from the gifts he already had, his great wealth, he desired to show his gratitude by giving to those in need. Hitherto he had lived a life of self indulgence—accumulating money for his own desires and even stealing from other people to add to his own horde. But now he confesses his sin, he promises to make restitution, and he shows himself to be a good steward of the gifts the Lord has given him.

However, sharing our gifts with others—as important as that is—is not the primary message of today’s Gospel. It is really God’s mercy which the Church wants to highlight for us today. The first reading, from the book of wisdom, clearly points us in that direction: "But you have mercy on all," it says, "because you can do all things; and you overlook people’s sins so that they may repent.... Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O Lord!" The Lord is the God of justice, and yet if justice was the only factor in play, none of us would have any hope it all. In justice, Jesus might have sternly rebuked Zacchaeus, demanded that he repent of his sin and make restitution to those he had defrauded. But instead, the Lord approached him with tenderness and mercy, allowing the grace of God to soften Zacchaeus’ heart so that, of his own accord, he would make the right choice—he would choose to turn from sin and to turn toward the Lord.

Each day of our lives we are called upon to make similar choices. Perhaps these choices are not as dramatic as the choice Zacchaeus was called to make. But they are choices between God’s way and our way, between light and darkness, between life and death. This week, as American citizens and as responsible Christians, we will have to make a choice. And it is a very difficult choice. There are many factors, many serious issues which must be taken into consideration. I would never presume to tell you who to vote for. I’m strictly forbidden to do so both by the law of the land and by my own Bishop. But I would be remiss in my duty toward you if I did not encourage you to vote according to the dictates of your conscience, and offer some guidance in forming your conscience in accord with the teaching of the Church. And so I must tell you that, among all the issues which we must consider, the first and most important issue is life—respect for the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. And it is my duty to remind you that there is a class of society which has no voice, which cannot speak for itself. That class is the unborn. In the United States, every day, over 3000 human lives are snuffed out through legal abortion. More than 40 million babies have been killed since abortion was legalized. These are statistics which make all of the other atrocities of human history look like a Sunday school picnic. How can we trust any candidate who speaks of peace and justice and yet who’s willing to allow this slaughter to continue? If there is no justice and protection for the unborn, how can we believe that there will be justice and protection for anyone? I will say no more about this serious topic, except to urge you, in the name of God, to consider this issue before all others and to vote with an informed conscience.

Jesus says, "the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." Our nation, for all the good that it has and does, has lost its way in several respects. The Lord waits patiently for us to turn from wickedness and to embrace the light. May the Lord enlighten our hearts as we seek to fulfill our duty as citizens and has Christians.

© 2004, The Rev. Timothy W. Castor