Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis
with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk
31st Sunday
of the Year, C – November 3, 2019.
Readings: Wis 11:22-12:2; Ps 145:1-2.8-9.10-11.13cd-14(R.1);
2 Thess 1:11-2:2; Gospel – Luke 19:1-10.
Theme: This Man
too is a Son of Abraham
Introduction
Beloved in
Christ, as we enter the month of November which is considered as a time for
praying for the souls of the faithful departed, the Church invites us to
reflect on the universality of salvation on the one hand and to refrain from
passing premature judgement on the other. Accordingly, our reflection which has
the theme “This Man too is a Son of Abraham” urges us to develop
a larger than life approach in matters of the faith while pursuing our
salvation in life and trembling (Philippians 2:12). We shall
consider a summary of the readings in order to obtain the desired pastoral
lessons.
Background & Summary of the Readings
The first reading (Wis 11:22-12:2)
reminds the faithful that the Lord is merciful to all and because he can do
anything, he overlooks people’s sins so that they can repent. It further
reveals that he does not abhor or hate anything he has created. It also notes
that he spares all things because they are his and his spirit is in them all. It
maintains that God corrects the offender and admonishes those who have sinned
so that they can abstain from evil and trust in him.
In the second
reading (2 Thess 1:11-2:2), St. Paul prays for the
Thessalonians so that God would make them worthy of his calling, fulfill their
desires and compete all that they have been doing through faith to the glory of
his name. He urged them to turn to the coming of the Lord even as he encouraged
them not to be alarmed by rumours that the Day of the Lord has arrived.
The gospel reading (Luke 19:1-10) recounts how Jesus entered
Jericho and when he was going through the town, Zacchaeus, a rich man and a
senior tax collector made an appearance; it further discloses that he ran ahead
of Jesus and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of him. We are told
that when Jesus spotted him, he urged him to climb down while assuring that he
was going to stay in his house. At that, the crowd complained that Jesus was
mingling with sinners.
However, when Jesus got to the senior tax collector’s
house, the man promised to give half of his property to the poor. He added that
if he had cheated anyone, he was ready to pay back four times the amount. Jesus’
audience had passed premature
judgement on Zacchaeus, shut him out and summarily condemned him.
To their dismay, Jesus said: “Today salvation has come to this house, because
this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek out and
save what was lost.” This leads us to
the two kinds of human judgement there are:
Types of Human Judgement
a).
Internal Judgement: This
happens in the Church where we find people who feel that they are holy and so do
not associate with sinners. They hate to see the priest mingle with people they
have tagged as “sinners.” In their overzealous pharisaic
attitude, they criminalise, stigmatize and label others and are angry even when
the “sinner” tries to make amends. Perhaps they have failed to understand Abigail
Van Buren’s popular saying that: “The Church is a hospital for sinners not a
museum for saints.” Besides, Jesus warned the Israelites that at the end of
time, they would be judged by Gentile nations. He also maintained that “the
first shall be the last and the last, first” (Matt 20:16).
b). External Judgement: There is a
tendency for Catholics to behave like the Israelites who felt that because they
are the chosen people, salvation is their exclusive preserve. Most of us are
guilty of passing external judgement on others because we feel that those outside
the Catholic Church or Christian faith will not be saved. Sadly, we demonstrate
this attitude in relations to non-Catholics and non-Christians. We often put
them out, label and condemn them for eternal damnation. We forget that Jesus
used the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin and prodigal son to teach us
about the universality of salvation.
Pastoral Application & Practical Lessons
1. Be Merciful: The message of the first reading (Wis 11:22-12:2) that God is merciful to all and overlooks people’s
sin so that they can repent challenges us to be kind and merciful especially to
those whom society labels as sinners like prostitutes, witches and wizards et
al.
2. Recognize Jesus in Others: On a daily basis, Jesus
passes through the Jericho of our lives but only those who have the eyes of
faith can recognize him in others especially those who are adjudged sinners in
our various communities.
3. Embrace
Humility: Just as it took humility for Zacchaeus to put aside his
high status (chief tax collector) and social standing (wealth) in society to climb
a tree in public, unless we throw away our earthly trappings of power and money
towards embracing humility, we may not meet the Lord in our lifetime or the
next.
4. Desire
God Ardently: We are challenged to emulate Zacchaeus who
developed “an irresistible desire” for the Lord which emboldened him to find a
way to catch a glimpse of Jesus.
5. Fix
Your Gaze on God: Instead of putting his gaze on his
predicament of shortness in stature, the tax collector fixed his gaze on Christ
which indicates that the Christian should have a larger than life approach to religion
by looking at the bigger picture based on God’s plans for his or her life.
