Fr. Azam Vianney Mansha, CJM - STL

Today’s Gospel passage is about Zacchaeus’ unusual encounter with Jesus. Zacchaeus was not only a tax collector, but he was also an unusual character in the passage. Note that the Gospel passage has only ten verses. Seven verses describe the situation outside the house, which shows the struggle of Zacchaeus, and the other three verses cover the dialogue between Jesus and Zacchaeus inside the house, which shows his conversion and his receiving the gift of salvation. In both situations, the unusual way of Zacchaeus is prominent through his personal struggle, his encounter with Jesus, his confession of being a sinner, and his act of charity. In fact, in the passage of Zacchaeus, we can see three unusual conversions: the unusual conversion of actions, the unusual conversion of heart and the unusual conversion of the distribution of his wealth.

Our unusual actions actually lead us to God. As we heard in the Gospel passage, Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and a wealthy man. He must have had many workers who could easily have found a way for him to see Jesus, but he took the unusual way, and that is to climb the tree. Although the Gospel passage does not say anything about how the crowd felt towards his unusual actions, we can assume that people around him must have laughed or joked about how this well-known, little man and chief tax collector was trying to climb a tree. But what we do know is that he did not pay attention to the crowd, and as a result, he successfully climbed the tree to see Jesus. It was his unusual actions which actually moved Jesus to see Zacchaeus. Look at his seven unusual actions in the Gospel passage: he ran, he climbed, he hurried, he came down, he received Jesus joyfully, he confessed and he distributed his wealth to the poor. In response to Zacchaeus’ unusual actions, Jesus called him by his personal name, Zacchaeus.   

What grace-filled moments are those when you are waiting for the Lord and the Lord calls you by your personal name, like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zacchaeus. Today, The Lord is calling each one of us by our personal name: Azam, Bob, Michael, Jack, Lolly, Maria and Elizabeth. He is telling each one of us, “Come down from your tree. I want to stay with you!” I remember when I first heard Jesus asking me to come down from the tree to enter in the formation of Catholic Priesthood. At that time, I was preparing for an entrance exam for  medical college. I had two girlfriends and I wanted to marry them both! I was telling Jesus, “Let me stay here in my tree.” But like Zacchaeus, Jesus wants to give us salvation; therefore, there is an urgent need to come down from our own trees to bring Jesus into our homes.

As we can see in the Gospel passage, Zacchaeus’ unusual actions brought him close to Jesus; however, he was still far away from the gift of salvation. Even though Jesus called him by his name, even though Jesus entered his house, even though Jesus was going to eat with him, still, Jesus was looking for more unusual things. Those unusual things are the other two unusual conversions: unusual conversion of heart and unusual conversion of the distribution of wealth.

Zacchaeus, a man of position and wealth, broke the social barrier of his pride and position, and stood to confess that he was willing to repay four times over for his extortion. In his confession, there was a cry of his sinfulness for extorting from the poor, for not living his life according to the commandments of the Lord, for not taking care of his neighbour. In fact, he confessed that he prioritised power, possession and pleasure more than anything else in the world. This can happen to each one of us when we live our own lives and do not feel the need for  Jesus. But with the arrival of Jesus, Zacchaeus’ unusual conversion of heart took place and he confessed that he was in need of Jesus. In spite of this, Zacchaeus still did not receive the gift of salvation because Jesus was still looking for the last unusual conversion of the distribution of his wealth.

The Gospel passage describes Zacchaeus as a wealthy man who kept everything for himself. The conversion of actions and conversion of heart become faith expressions when the unusual conversion of the distribution of wealth takes place. St. James, in his letter, said, “Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by my deeds” (James 2:18). Certainly, faith is a personal matter, but the expression of faith is to serve the poor, which we see in Zacchaeus as he confessed, “Lord, behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor.” It was the climax of the 3 unusual conversions, and it grasped the attention of Jesus. Not only did Zacchaeus, but also his entire household, receive the gift of salvation as Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house” (Lk 19:9).

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, as we are about to enter the season of Christmas, and certainly we will go through Advent preparations, let’s focus on the unusual conversion of our actions, unusual conversion of our hearts and unusual conversion of our distribution of wealth by reaching out to the victims of devastating floods, corruption, injustice, rape, violence and other social evils of society. Let’s not forget that our little unusual conversions of actions, heart and distribution of wealth will help them to encounter Jesus, the true salvation.   

May Mary, the mother of Jesus and our Mother, intercede for us to always welcome Jesus, our salvation, through the unusual conversion of our actions, unusual conversion of our hearts and unusual conversion of the distribution of our wealth.