Tuesday of the
Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
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| “Tax Collector” by Marinus van Reymerswaele, 1542 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22
I, John, heard the Lord
saying to me:
“To the angel of the Church
in Sardis, write this:
“‘The one who has the seven
spirits of God
and the seven stars says
this: “I know your works,
that you have the reputation
of being alive, but you are dead.
Be watchful and strengthen
what is left, which is going to die,
for I have not found your
works complete in the sight of my God.
Remember then how you
accepted and heard; keep it, and repent.
If you are not watchful, I
will come like a thief,
and you will never know at
what hour I will come upon you.
However, you have a few
people in Sardis
who have not soiled their
garments;
they will walk with me
dressed in white,
because they are worthy.
“‘The victor will thus be
dressed in white,
and I will never erase his
name from the book of life
but will acknowledge his name
in the presence of my Father
and of his angels.
“‘Whoever has ears ought to
hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
“To the angel of the Church
in Laodicea, write this:
“‘The Amen, the faithful and
true witness,
the source of God’s creation,
says this:
“I know your works;
I know that you are neither
cold nor hot.
I wish you were either cold
or hot.
So, because you are lukewarm,
neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my
mouth.
For you say, ‘I am rich and
affluent and have no need of anything,’
and yet do not realize that
you are wretched,
pitiable, poor, blind, and
naked.
I advise you to buy from me
gold refined by fire so that you may be rich,
and white garments to put on
so that your shameful nakedness
may not be exposed,
and buy ointment to smear on
your eyes so that you may see.
Those whom I love, I reprove
and chastise.
Be earnest, therefore, and
repent.
“‘Behold, I stand at the door
and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door,
then I will enter his house
and dine with him,
and he with me.
I will give the victor the
right to sit with me on my throne,
as I myself first won the
victory
and sit with my Father on his
throne.
“‘Whoever has ears ought to
hear
what the Spirit says to the
churches.’”
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Commentary on Rv 3:1-6, 14-22
St. John addresses his vision to
two more of the seven churches of Asia (the Asian Province of Rome), Sardis [4]
and Laodicea [5]. In the case of Sardis, he
reprimands them for backsliding. Apparently the community had been reduced in
numbers to a point where it is in danger of disappearing. The evangelist tells
them that the few that remained faithful would be rewarded for their
steadfastness.
At Laodicea the apostle criticized
them for lack of zeal for the faith. He says: “I know that you are neither
cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot.” He bases this
observation upon their works, indicating that while they profess Christ Jesus,
their actions are not reflecting that conviction.
CCC: Rv 3:14 1065
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 15:2-3a,
3bc-4ab, 5
R. (Rev. 3: 21) I will seat the victor beside me on my
throne.
He who walks blamelessly and
does justice;
who thinks the truth in his
heart
and slanders not with his
tongue.
R. I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.
Who harms not his fellow man,
nor takes up a reproach
against his neighbor;
By whom the reprobate is
despised,
while he honors those who
fear the LORD.
R. I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.
Who lends not his money at
usury
and accepts no bribe against
the innocent.
He who does these things
shall never be disturbed.
R. I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.
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Commentary on Ps 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5
Psalm 15 is a
didactic song instructing the faithful to follow God’s precepts, and explaining
that those who act in accord with the Law will receive God’s support and grace.
It is a Jewish form of examination of conscience. These verses record the
response of the temple representative when asked what virtues are appropriate
in the eyes of God. The response lauds
the person who follows the “Law,” specifically the Hebrew laws that warn
against slander or false accusations. In the second strophe it honors the person
who does no violence against another. And finally, in the last strophe, we are
told that the person who does not charge interest on a loan (usury) is also
uplifted.
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Gospel: Luke
19:1-10
At that time Jesus came to
Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named
Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector
and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus
was;
but he could not see him
because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a
sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that
way.
When he reached the place,
Jesus looked up and said,
“Zacchaeus, come down
quickly,
for today I must stay at your
house.”
And he came down quickly and
received him with joy.
When they saw this, they
began to grumble, saying,
“He has gone to stay at the
house of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood there and
said to the Lord,
“Behold, half of my
possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted
anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times
over.”
And Jesus said to him,
“Today salvation has come to
this house
because this man too is a
descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come
to seek
and to save what was lost.”
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Commentary on Lk 19:1-10
In this passage, we hear the story
of Zacchaeus, the tax collector, and Jesus. While still on his final journey to
Jerusalem, this encounter takes place in Jericho, on the western edge of Jordan
Valley, about 6 miles north of the Dead Sea, northeast of Jerusalem. Jesus
chooses Zacchaeus’ home for his resting place (an unpopular choice: “they
began to grumble, saying, ‘He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner’”).
Jesus uses this occasion to give us
a clear idea of why he came. When Zacchaeus tells him what he has done with his
material possessions, Jesus proclaims: “the Son of Man has come to seek and
to save what was lost.” The Lord's mission is salvation.
The story of Zacchaeus is another
of the stories unique to the Gospel of St. Luke. The tax collector exemplifies
the attitude the faithful should take. He detaches himself easily from his
wealth. Zacchaeus' offers go beyond what Mosaic Law calls for (assuming some of
his dealings were dishonest: Exodus 21:37; Numbers 5:5-7) to give
half of his possessions to the poor, and to make amends four times over for any
accounts he has wrongly settled. This action, the Lord tells those present, has
earned him salvation.
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Reflection:
We cannot ignore that Jesus
came “to seek and save what was lost.” We also
understand that, through the apostles, this mission was passed on to the church,
and, through our baptism, to us. It is
an important mission and one of which we should never lose sight. The message we bring must be Christ’s
message, not our own interpretation of another’s moral code.
Each day in the news we find
another example of conflict between those who uphold the church’s teaching on
the sanctity of life and religious liberty and those who view life decisions as
belonging to each individual, regardless of the value they place on human life.
We are told it does not matter where they work, that the organization and its
employees must adhere to government values. We must try to balance our
righteous zeal against allowing ourselves to be pulled into the sin of
uncharitable thoughts and actions.
While the dignity of human
life is an important element of church teaching, and certainly needs to be
proclaimed to the world, we must always be cautious that we do not lose sight
of the Lord’s own example of how to teach
and how to reach out. We can use the
story of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus as an example. Zacchaeus was a tax collector. In the time of Jesus, that meant he was a
representative of the occupying Roman government, despised by most of the
region’s native residents. Those in his
profession made a good living, not just collecting the lawful tax imposed by
the government, but like collection agencies today, they also received a
percentage of what they were able to collect.
We could, corrected for time
and social evolution, place his image at the same level as an abortion doctor
in a strongly pro-life community today.
What would the modern response to such an individual be from those with
zeal for this important teaching?
Experience tells us that the tactics used would be to attempt to
publicly humiliate this person, to stop him, by whatever means necessary (in
some cases this has even taken the form of violence, certainly mental violence
if not physical), from doing what he or she clearly thinks is the morally right
thing. We are not defending the
pro-abortion cause here, just trying to point out where our zeal may have taken
us.
If Jesus were here in this
community, he would use his prestige and notoriety to go to this doctor’s house
and convince the person that his view on the sanctity of life had become
twisted and desensitized, and that he has lost sight of the previously taken
oath to save lives. Jesus would reach
out in love to this person, not try to heap on public humiliation (we see those
bullying tactics routinely used by the LGBT groups against anyone who disagrees
with them).
We too must be careful not to
so vehemently proclaim pro-life or any other cause that we overshadow the most
important message that Christ left us: to love God and one another. In some instances this feels like the
case. To use the analogy of cooking, so
much spice has been added to the recipe that the flavor of the dish has been
spoiled.
The church has such a huge
job to do that we must not be directed to only one issue. To those who are critical of the clergy who
did not speak out forcefully before the elections I would say, rather than
trying to divide the church we must unify.
By our united actions great things can be accomplished. Above all we must hate the sin and love the
sinner. It is Christ’s message and he is
the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Pax
[1]
The picture used today is “Tax Collector” by Marinus van Reymerswaele, 1542.
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible,
with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the
International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is
not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
Sardis: this city, located ca.
thirty miles southeast of Thyatira, was once the capital of Lydia, known for
its wealth at the time of Croesus (6th century B.C.). Its citadel, reputed to
be unassailable, was captured by surprise, first by Cyrus and later by
Antiochus. The church is therefore warned to be on guard.
[5]
Laodicea: ca. forty miles southeast
of Philadelphia and ca. eighty miles east of Ephesus, a wealthy industrial and
commercial center, with a renowned medical school. It exported fine woolen
garments and was famous for its eye salves. It was so wealthy that it was
proudly rebuilt without outside aid after the devastating earthquake of A.D.
60/61.
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