Homily for Tuesday, 18 November 2014– Ferial

Tuesday of the 33rd week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22; Psalm 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5; Luke 19:1-10

How many of us have heard how important it is to be mindful of the company we keep? If we associate with people with bad reputations, we may ourselves be judged as disreputable or, worse, we might acquire the bad habits of disreputable people with whom we associate.

Apparently Jesus never got this memo. Here, in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus invites himself to the home of Zacchaeus, a tax collector. Immediately the crowds begin “to grumble, saying, ‘He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.’”

Luke’s Gospel goes into great detail to describe the ridiculousness of this encounter between Zacchaeus and Jesus. Zacchaeus is “short in stature,” and so he climbs “a sycamore tree” in a loose-fitting tunic “in order to see Jesus.” Imagine this scene! And then, implausibly, Zacchaeus offers to “give half [his] possessions… to the poor” and to pay back what he has stolen as a tax collector. But the crowds do not complain about how ridiculous all this makes Zacchaeus appear. No, they complain about Jesus’ going to eat at the house of this “sinner.”

Now, will anybody here complain that Jesus has gone to eat at the house of sinners? After all, Jesus has come here, to be with us in this house; a house of sinners, each and every one of us, for this feast; this Eucharistic celebration. I think we would be hard-pressed to hear anyone here complain about Jesus joining us here and now; joining us to eat in this house of sinners; making it a house of God. But so he has.

Jesus does not seem to understand the rule about minding one’s company. He associates with sinners; with Zacchaeus; with us. If we examine our hearts; our consciences, we will find that we have probably all sinned. Even more than damaging our relationships with God and one another, sin makes us look ridiculous; about as ridiculous as a little man climbing a sycamore tree in a loose-fitting tunic!

But we are fortunate that Jesus is bold enough to keep company like us; to live among us as human, to die, to rise, and to return in glory for us, all redeemed sinners.

Jesus recognizes the dignity behind the ridiculous Zacchaeus; that “this man, too, is a son of Abraham.” Behind our ridiculousness; our sin, Jesus recognizes that we, too, are daughters and sons “of Abraham”; daughters and sons of God; created and loved by God, even when we are up a sycamore tree (figuratively) in a loose-fitting tunic! Jesus is here now to clothe us with God’s love and mercy, “to seek and to save what was lost”; to bring “salvation…to this house.”

We are fortunate that Jesus keeps company like us; that Jesus is here to eat with us; in fact to give himself as food for our celebration in this house of redeemed sinners.