Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
People say that is bad to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. The reason for this is that some types of food, which on a full stomach you might not have considered purchasing, suddenly seem more enticing. I know grocery shopping when I’m hungry is definitely dangerous. This past Thursday I went shopping on an empty stomach. I originally had planned only to pick up a pumpkin to carve for Halloween, some carrots, potatoes, and celery for a pot roast I was cooking that day, and some apples. But then I saw the caramel, and imagined how tasty that would be with apple slices. And then I saw sour gummy worms, and could almost taste the sweet and sour candy in my mouth. Needless to say, I ended up picking up a few more things than I originally had intended.
Our Gospel today begins by saying that Jesus intended to pass through the town of Jericho. Jesus must have been hungry for souls, because a crowd quickly forms, and Jesus, through this crowd, sees a soul who is hungering for Jesus, even as Jesus hungers for his soul. Zacchaeus had to climb up a tree (and there is a tree in Jericho today which alleges to be the sycamore tree Zacchaeus climbed) to see Jesus. But Jesus notices Zacchaeus, and invites Himself over to dinner at Zacchaeus’ house.
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| The Zacchaeus Sycamore Tree in Jericho |
Do we hunger for Jesus? What would we do to see Jesus? Recently a few new Chick-fil-As opened in Michigan. The first one hundred people at the new stores received one free meal per week for a year from Chick-fil-A. I know that people camp out, sometimes for days, just to have a chance to win some free, tasty chicken for a year. It’s interesting, though, that some of us are content to show up for Mass 10-15 minutes late. Or think about how early most people arrive at a stadium to either tailgate or watch a game. Most people are quite upset if they miss kick-off. And yet we can put off prayer, our time to be with Jesus and talk and listen to Him, quite easily.
If we do show up to Mass on time, stay for all the Mass, and set aside time daily to pray, then we need to ask ourselves if we’re as hungry to bring others to Jesus as Jesus was. Again, Jesus intended to pass through Jericho. But, noticing Zacchaeus’ hunger for Him, Jesus spent time there, and even had dinner with Zacchaeus. Do we want to bring others to Jesus? Last week Deacon Dave preached about our Evangelization Plan, of how we can bring others, especially fallen-away Catholics back to the practice of their faith. Have we filled it out? Did we even take one home? Or do just sit back and figure if people want to come to church again, they will?
Imagine for a second that the Apostles, after Pentecost, waited for people to come to the upper room. Would thousands of people have been baptized on that very day? And would the faith have spread? Would the world have been changed for the better by the Gospel? The answer is obvious: of course not. And yet, we can often have the mentality that we’ll just wait for people to come back to church, or join the church, without any work on our part. By our baptism, we have each become a member of the Church, and by our confirmation, we have each been sent out to help people know the truth and love of Jesus, which will make them happy and will help them on the road to heaven, which God desires for every person. At our confirmation we were given a mission to work to bring as many people into a relationship with Jesus, even as we continue to work on our own relationship with Jesus. It is not only the work of priests, deacons, and religious. In fact, the transformation of the world by preaching the Gospel is really the work of the laity; at least that’s what Vatican II emphasized.
Vatican II says, in its Constitution on the Church that the laity are called to “make Christ known to others, especially by the testimony of a life resplendent in faith, hope and charity (n. 31).” In the Vatican II decree on the apostolate, or work of spreading the Gospel, we read, “The apostolate of the laity derives from their Christian vocation and the Church can never be without it. […] The Church was founded for the purpose of spreading the kingdom of Christ throughout the earth for the glory of God the Father, to enable all men to share in His saving redemption, and that through them the whole world might enter into a relationship with Christ (nn. 1, 2).”
Christ is hungry for us and our love. Are we hungry for others to know Jesus Christ? Jesus, and so many fallen-away Catholics are waiting for us to be hungry to help others know Jesus and His Church. Would we have them starve?