Readings - http://www.usccb.org/nab/103110.shtml
Normally, I begin my Sunday homilies during Ordinary Time by reminding us that generally the Readings offer us a theme from our day to day lives and invite us to find Jesus or the Gospel in that aspect of our day to day existence.
This week, however, I’m going to proceed a little bit differently because we’re confronted by a really lovely first Reading from the Book of Wisdom (Wis 11:22-12:2) that I believe is worth BOTH “cutting and pasting” and placing on our refrigerator or bathroom mirror at home, AND taking some time to pick it apart, line by line. First the text in its entirety:
Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance
or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.
But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;
and you overlook people's sins that they may repent.
For you love all things that are
and loathe nothing that you have made;
for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.
And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it;
or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?
But you spare all things, because they are yours,
O LORD and lover of souls,
for your imperishable spirit is in all things!
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!
Now let’s pick it apart:
Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance
or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.
Often enough, our day to day lives are limited by the spaces of our homes, cars, and offices. We’re not able to see much past the kitchen counter, the tv set in the living room or past our cubicle in the office. Our world is “small.”
It is therefore important to occasionally get out of the house and take a walk. And it’s well worth going to take that walk at a place which is “unconstrained.” In Chicago, I’ve found a great place to take such a walk, to see “a bigger picture” is to go to the Lake. As my nieces once happily said, Lake Michigan _not_ like a lake. “It’s like an ocean.” (Actually it’s really a lake but a really big lake). Looking out onto Lake Michigan, one can not see the other shore. One just sees the water blend into the horizon. And the water itself acts like a sea. Some days it seems as smooth as glass. Other times there are five even ten foot waves. Depending on the wind and weather, the water can be blue, green, grey, and of course, in the winter, white. It is a little bit of awesomeness and it reminds me, that there is a whole world out there which is far bigger than me and my current concerns.
The writer of the Book of Wisdom reminds us that God is bigger than all of this, bigger than Lake Michigan, bigger than the entire Universe, whose Creator he is.
But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;
and you overlook people's sins that they may repent.
But precisely because God is so great, God is also compassionate. Every major religion which is either monotheistic (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) or simply tends toward the absolute (like Buddhism) appreciates this. It is precisely because God is so Awesome, indeed Omnipotent, _can_ “do all things” that God _can_ care, _care_ about _all things_, care about _us_.
For you love all things that are
and loathe nothing that you have made;
for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.
We were ALL created by God. Hence are ALL loved. The famous phrase of the much belittled Rev. Jesse Jackson is ABSOLUTELY TRUE – “God does not make junk.”
And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it;
or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?
We are here because God wants us here. No matter how often we may hear voices either internal or external, that we are not worthy of consideration, _not worthy of being_, we ARE worthy, ALL OF US, because GOD MADE US AND SUSTAINS US. NO HUMAN BEING, OR GROUP OF HUMAN BEINGS HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE OUR INFINITE VALUE FROM US.
But you spare all things, because they are yours,
O LORD and lover of souls,
for your imperishable spirit is in all things!
And we are not merely “made by God”, in Baptism, we become part of the Body of Christ, hence we become PART of God in this world and GOD’S SPIRIT does breathe within us!
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!
And yet WE ALL KNOW that could do better, that we all fail, that we all sin.
But God does not beat us for our failings, for our sins. HE DOES HOWEVER REMIND US, and remind us consistently that we are called to do better, _gently_ calling us to rise to bigger heights, to resolve the obstacles, mostly internal, that keep us down, keep us from respecting each other and to see both ourselves AND Others as God sees us all.
***
OK. This reading from the Book of Wisdom is GRAND. But now how can we relate it to the Gospel Reading which we hear today?
Well, it has been said that Jesus brought “down to earth”, _incarnated_, _fulfilled_ that which the previous Scriptures (the Old Testament) promised.
And we see the Incarnation, Fulfillment of the Old Testament Reading in Jesus’ meeting with Zacchaeus in the Gospel Reading.
Zacchaeus, in many respects, represents all of us. Indeed, I really believe that Zacchaeus represents a lot of Annunciata’s parishioners very, very well. Okay, it’s possible that Zacchaeus was richer than most Annunciata’s parishioners would consider themselves to be.
But Zacchaeus’ behavior in this Gospel story would be _very recognizable_ to many of us: He was rich, he was enthusiastic (full of life), but he also _felt himself “small”_, not really worthy.
We see this at Annunciata. All kinds of people come out to support the parish at Annunciata Fest. All kinds of people come together if there is someone who is in need. All kinds of people will come out and buy raffle tickets to support the Parish financially as well.
But ask people to Read (to be a Lector), to be a Eucharistic Minister, to join the Choir, to join a Bible Study group and many ... most ... shirk away. It’s that they are not interested. It’s generally, that they don’t feel themselves _worthy_.
So they salute the Priest at a distance, often sincerely and with a great and sincere smile, perhaps with a beer in one’s hand. But they feel that they’re not worthy, that they’d look like fools reading, or embarrass themselves trying to sing, or feel almost hopelessly distant from the Scriptures they hear proclaimed Sunday. They prefer to stand on a branch, sincerely enthusiastic, but afraid to do more than watch Jesus pass by.
But Jesus stops. Jesus, invites himself into Zacchaeus’ life into Zacchaeus’ house.
And yes, Zacchaeus would have been right. The people around him IMMEDIATELY BEGIN TO MURMUR – Doesn’t Jesus know who Zacchaeus is? Doesn’t he know how unworthy Zacchaeus is of a man of God’s company?
But Zacchaeus, now invited, does not let go of the invitation. He begins to make promises that perhaps he doesn’t keep (we _don’t know_ if he kept them). But we can recognize them as certainly sincere at the time: “I’ll give half of what I own to the poor, and if I’ve defrauded ANYONE, I’ll give that person 4x back what I took from him.”
Zacchaeus is changed. And Jesus is happy, because as he notes, “this man is ALSO a descendant of Abraham.”
AND THAT COULD BE SAID ABOUT US: WE ARE ALL MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST. Perhaps for years we don’t act that way, but by virtue of our Baptism we are. AND WE ARE INVITED, EVER GENTLY, TO STAND UP AND TAKE OUR PLACE IN THE BODY.
Yes, we are invited GENTLY to do more than just buy raffle tickets (as _important_ financially to the Church/Parish as this is). We are invited to proclaim God’s praises, to hand out Christ’s Body, we are invited to Sing.
God bless you, us, all ;-)
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