Download October 30 2016 31st Sunday

THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
October 30, 2016
Contributed by Brother John Cline, C.R.
Bro. John has ministered for twenty-six years in the spiritual care program within two hospitals. Historically, he
has participated in ministries within Scollard Hall High School and two of our C.R. parishes. He has a very
active retirement. Presently, Bro. John is on our Provincial Council and resides at Resurrection Manor. He
manages and maintains our community cottage on Conestoga Lake, and interested in Social Justice, Bro. John
volunteers at St. John’s Kitchen.
GATHERING TIME (10-15 minutes)
Introduction to the Word:
Daylight saving time will soon end in this part of the world. Mother Nature presents signs for us as our shortened days
will increase and the darkened nights lengthen. And falling leaves and seasonal chill are certain signs of the
diminishing days of another year and also of the Church’s calendar. Advent and a new Church year are not far
away. Our Lectionary readings would have us reflect on issues of increasing importance for ourselves and our
world. So as we approach a new liturgical year we will focus today on the theme of biblical hospitality.
To fully appreciate the gesture of hospitality in Jesus' time, it may help us to know a little more about the
biblical notion of hospitality. The meaning derives from the Latin verb “hostire,” to make equal. In those early
times, hospitality was about the protocol of welcoming a stranger into the household, of making the person feel
equal to one of the family. It required that the guest of the household be given the identical privileges as the
host. So when one entered the home, he was welcomed by the host who immediately proceeded to wash his
visitor’s feet, then offer him food and drink. And if someone did not practice hospitality, that was a major sin!
This is the setting for today’s reflection and dialogue as Jesus calls to a man in a tree, invites himself to his
home, to share hospitality.
Warm-up Activity (about 8-10 minutes):
a) What is your best experience of hospitality, full acceptance, of being honoured and respected?
b) Briefly describe a conversion story, where one’s life has been altered by respect, affirmation, a deep
relationship. It may well be your own.
c) How much mockery and laughter would you endure, or ridicule would you tolerate, for your views or
your faith?
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The Table of the Word
THEME
Hospitality: An Invitation to Salvation
Today’s message strongly suggests that to be a Christian is to be a minister of hospitality. We are called to
minister to one another in the identical manner that Jesus ministered to Zacchaeus – a ministry that has the
power to transform utter strangers into intimate friends. Jesus not only accepted the hospitality of Zacchaeus – a
public sinner – but he also boldly invited himself to the little man’s home. In a sense Jesus became the host,
inviting Zacchaeus into His own life, into the intimacy of His friendship and love. Jesus in effect established a
bond with one who seemed to have long forgotten the meaning of love, and thus transforms him into a man who
repents and radically reforms his life. The daunting challenge that this story puts to all of Jesus’ disciples is to
replicate what Jesus did: to be human extensions of Jesus’ own person; to re-create family, community and
parish to be models of inclusiveness where we all become genuine friends, where the lost are found, where all
God’s children are restored to their rightful place as children of Abraham and of God (Scripture commentator
Father Walter Burghardt, S.J.).
Leader: Today’s Scripture story is a startling wake-up call and reminder of just how much favour we have with
the Lord and how we can best return that favour in kind.
Lord Jesus, you are the lover of souls,
Christ Jesus, you love all that the Father has created,
Lord Jesus, you are gracious and compassionate to all your creatures,
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Let us pray (together):
Creator God, you love everything that exists
and we, who are sinners, are also the work of Your hands and
rejoice at love so bountiful. In our delight we welcome Your Son as a guest
at our home this day. Count us among the children of the covenant, among those sinners who were found
when Jesus came to seek out and save what was lost.
We ask this through Jesus, Your Son and our Risen Brother.
Amen.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION TIME
(45 minutes)
(As Christians we believe that the WORD of God we hear proclaimed each Sunday is an empowering Word, and that God is present
in the Word proclaimed. This is the Word that God wants us to hear today. The dynamic of the Small Christian Community, namely,
reflecting on our life-story within the context of this Word, and sharing the insights of these reflections, is such that God’s Spirit
becomes present, and the gifts of the Spirit are experienced as empowering and life-giving.)
FIRST READING (Wisdom 11:22–12:2)
The whole world before you, O Lord, is like a speck that tips the scales, and like a drop of morning dew that falls on the
ground. But you are merciful to all, for you can do all things, and you overlook people’s sins, so that they may repent.
Lord, you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things that you have made, for you would not have made
anything if you had hated it. Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved? You spare all things,
for they are yours, O Lord, you who love the living. For your immortal spirit is in all things. Therefore you correct
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little by little those who trespass, and you remind and warn them of the things through which they sin, so that they
may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in you, O Lord.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
SECOND READING (2 Thessalonians 1:11–2:2)
Brothers and sisters: We always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his
power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him,
according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to
be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day
of the Lord is already here.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL (Luke 19:1–10)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke. Glory to you, O Lord.
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and
was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to
the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.”
So Zacchaeus hurried down and was happy to welcome Jesus. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to
be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I
will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said of
him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because Zacchaeus too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to
seek out and to save the lost.”
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
(Allow 5-10 minutes for quiet and for a brief reflection on a meaningful word or thought.)
COMMENTARY:
Our Psalm today can easily be called a psalm of gratitude.
The very wording of thanks is expressed in this selection… “all your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord.”
Note also the words “I will bless you” which is a Hebrew way of saying “I will thank you”. ‘Bless’ is used four
times in our psalm today including the one in the response itself. Notice “every day I will bless you,” i.e., “every
day I will thank you;” Are we keeping this prayer-promise? Every day? Gratitude is absolutely important for any
religious believer! Psychologically it is also very good for us because of the health benefits it brings if we
seriously undertake prayer of gratitude on a daily basis. And as a community, we also pledge gratitude as we
liturgically pray this psalm today and explicitly voice, “all your faithful shall bless you” i.e., “all your people
will give you thanks”.
Today’s Gospel story describes an incident that happened in the city of Jericho, Jesus’ last major stop on his
way to Jerusalem. Luke’s story focuses on Zacchaeus – not a good man by any standards. He is rich in the worst
way. He has become wealthy by exploiting his people in collecting taxes for the hated Romans. In fact he is the
chief tax collector, meaning that he has profited from the exploitation done by other tax collectors who work
under him. This means he sinned twice against the Jewish People, God’s People!
Luke gives the reader a hint at what it was that opened this man up to Jesus’ call to a change of heart.
Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. He was responding to that restless search for meaning with which
most of us can identify. He was intrigued by Jesus’ person and his message. However ill-gotten his wealth,
Zacchaeus had retained a childlike ability to keep seeking the truth. It is Zacchaeus’ restless heart that led him to
Jesus. His short stature, however, made it impossible to see Jesus (and equally impossible for Jesus to notice
him). So he was forced to do what a child would do. Wanting to get a better view he climbed the nearest tree so
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that he could see Jesus. By climbing the tree, he made himself look foolish and the people would really have
laughed at him, all the more because he was a hated tax collector. When Jesus spotted Zacchaeus, his reaction
was immediate. “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down for I must stay at your house today.”
This invitation had to leave the crowd stunned, the fact that Jesus—the same one who recently preached so
forcefully against the self-indulgent rich—now invites Himself to dine with this wealthy public cheat and
sinner! Both Jesus and Zacchaeus ignore the obvious irritation of the crowd and finalize visitation arrangements.
Zacchaeus is profoundly moved by Jesus’ invitation: “Look, half my possessions…I will give to the poor; and if
I have defrauded…I will pay back four times”. He has been changed, transformed, by the realization that a man
like Jesus would choose not only to visit with him but to dine with him – the ultimate measure of Jewish
hospitality. Jesus’ invitation changed Zacchaeus’ life, for he experiences a new relationship. This relationship of
encountering Jesus is the saving justice of God, “because this man too is a son of Abraham.” Now he doesn’t
have to be afraid of the crowds!
Zacchaeus’ efforts remind me of Margaret Dorgan’s comment in her book, St. Teresa of Avila: A Guide for
Travel Inward: “In every situation, positive or negative, Teresa is with us, urging us to see where we are as
simply another starting point for further journeying inward to God. ‘And if a person should do no more than
take one step, the step will contain in itself so much power that (they) will not to fear losing it, nor will (they)
fail to be very well paid’ (Teresa of Avila, Way of Perfection).”
And the same God who has put within each of us the desire to search for Him, also puts pointers on our way.
There are signposts that show us which way to go so as to satisfy our thirst. Zacchaeus saw a tree; for the Magi
the sign was a star; John and Andrew followed John the Baptizer; the woman at the well acknowledged her
deeper thirst. But signs are only indicators, hence it is also easy to miss them as did St. Augustine….
“Lo, you were within,
but I outside, seeking there for you,
and upon the shapely things you have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you”
And Elizabeth Barrett Browning in her poem, Aurora Leigh, states it this way…
“Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only he/she who sees, takes off
his/her shoes, the rest only sit around it and pluck blackberries”.
We want to respond to our inner thirst and prayer is the path to that deeper meaning. Wanting to pray is an act
of free will, but what happens during prayer is God’s grace. We come to realize that God is the one, after all,
who has been searching for me. So, for some of us, the encounter with God in the person of Jesus could mean
simply experiencing the saving justice of God. It could just mean being accepted as we are in His presence. It
could simply mean being reassured, “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you
rest” (Mt 11:28).
“God loves whatever God has made.” This means that God is committed to caring intimately for every single
aspect of creation. This daring concept from the Book of Wisdom complements the Gospel narrative. The
Wisdom reading depicts a Creator incessantly involved with every dimension of the natural world, while
emphasizing that nothing would exist if it were not loved by God. The very fact that we are alive today,
knowing that we did not cause our own existence, is proof that we are loved into being, says Fr. John
Kavanaugh, S.J., (scripture commentator). We could not have been made, could not have survived for an
instant, unless we were willed and wanted by God. Kavanaugh then adds, “We who are all brothers and sisters
of Zacchaeus, more splendidly endowed than all other creatures, have a special gift. This gift is more attractive
to behold than the majestic mountains, more thrilling to see than the fastest gazelle. It seems that God, that lover
of souls, more than anything else, wants to share this precious gift with us. It is the gift we already share with
Zacchaeus, no matter how rich or poor, how young or old, how virtuous or sinful we might be: “We are all
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gifted with a restless question at the ground of our being. And even in the worst of times, we will even climb
trees hoping to find the answer.” (ibid)
(Allow about 5 – 10 minutes for the participants to react to the Commentary
and to identify a newly discovered insight.)
1. (Wisdom) “How would anything have endured if you had not willed it?”
Why might God will "the thorns” as much as "the rose"? Or the unattractive caterpillar as much as the
exquisite butterfly? Share your thoughts.
a) Describe other phenomena of nature that can have an extreme downside offset only by a surprising and
welcome upside?
b) Try to recall a personal setback, e.g., an accident, a sickness, or a loss, that eventually led to a surprising
and most satisfying outcome. Share your experiences.
c) What do you think was the most devastating happening in Jesus' own life; what was the outcome?
2. (Second Thessalonians) “As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ...we beg you ... not to be quickly
shaken..."
a) What have you done today to prepare for "the Day of the Lord"?
b) In what sense is every day a reminder of "the Coming of the Lord"?
3. (Second Thessalonians) “We always pray for you…”
The community at Thessalonica was very worried about the end of the world which was thought to be
imminent. Share in your group your thoughts in response to one or more of the following:
a) Do you ever think about the end of the world, and what it will look like?
b) What is one thing you feel you absolutely have to complete before you meet your creator?
c) What is your biggest fear if “the end times” were to happen today?
4. (Luke) "A man was there named Zacchaeus... was trying to see who Jesus was."
a) In your mind, what was it that separated Zacchaeus from everybody else in Jericho?
Share your thoughts.
b) For a few moments put yourself “into the skin" of Zacchaeus as he scampered up that tree. How did you
feel? What did you want more than anything? From Jesus? From those who have gathered there?
CARING-PRAYING TIME: (15-20 minutes)
(This time is reserved for quiet prayer as well as for an action-response to the communal reflections. The intent is to ‘outreach’ to the
larger community.)
1. Word for the Week:
“… even in the worst of times, we will even climb trees hoping to find the answer.” (Kavanaugh, S.J.)
2. Suggestion for the week: (A few thoughts for your reflection this week follow.)
a) How much tolerance and compassion do you have? Can you accept differences as God-given? Think
of how different you appear to others; would they be wrong in treating you as an outcast?
b) When you are feeling down and not fully with it, pinch yourself to make sure you are still alive. You
just proved that God loves you. Know why? Go back and read the First Reading from Wisdom.
c) Pray for another using the first sentence of Paul’s prayer (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12) in your own
words.
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3. Intercessions: (Response: Lord, hear our prayer)
Leader: To the God who can do all things and who is merciful to all, let us pray in the name of Jesus, friend of
outcasts, and guest of sinners.
For the Church as it preaches the gospel of conversion:
May it reflect the mercy of the Master who came to seek out and save those who were lost, we pray…
For those who are searching: may their doubt, disillusionment, fear, or mistrust guide them to a renewed
relationship to the God of love, we pray…
For those who live in fear; may your calming expression “fear not” touch the hearts of those who fear for their
lives or dignity, those for whom fear is a constant reality, we pray…
For the World: For a global perspective that will compel nations to work together for the common good: May
peoples grow in respect for the rights and dignity of all cultures without exception, we pray…
For those oppressed, afflicted or in need: For people with troubled minds and anxious spirits: May they know
that God made them and loves them, we pray…
For those who collect fees, regulate agency spending, or manage records: May they see their service as a
sacred trust for the benefit of those they serve, we pray…
For those who are rich in this world’s goods, power or prestige: May they use their gifts generously to
enrich the lives of others, we pray…
For the needs of our local community: For the catechumens who long to see Jesus more clearly: May they
overcome whatever keeps them from Christ, we pray…
For our parish ministries to the unchurched or disaffected: May our mercy respectfully meet others where
they are and personally invite them to come back, we pray…
For Christian Assemblies: guide us in reading the sign posts in our lives that we may deepen our relationship
with God, individuals, and community, we pray…
For the Dead: For those who throughout their lives delighted in welcoming Jesus. May the Lord who came in
search of us welcome them now to their heavenly home, we pray…
How can we help you in prayer this week?
Let us pray (together):
Lord Jesus, Zacchaeus, in his search for You,
was responding to a longing for “someone” to give meaning to his life –
“someone” to welcome him home. We recognize You as this ever loyal “someone.” And You now invite us to
extend this welcome, on Your behalf, to our families and our communities. May all people and all nations
find their resting place in You.
For this we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
With hands and hearts united in gratitude for God’s favours to us today, we pray that all those under our
influence be moved to be open to your Word and your Spirit, while we pray united as one, OUR FATHER...
Celebrating the Word, Resurrection Ministries of the Congregation of the Resurrection Ontario-Kentucky Province (including the
former Resurrection Centre), 265 Westmount Road North, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G7. (Celebrating the Word was founded
by Father Frank Ruetz, C.R. deceased 2012). For information: Toll Free: 1-877-242-7935. website: www.resurrectionists.ca. Email:
[email protected]
The Scripture version used in this commentary is the New Revised Standard Version (copyrighted by the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA).
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