WEBVTT 00:00:08.140 --> 00:00:36.880 Glory be to Jesus Christ. I recently read a story 00:00:40.030 --> 00:00:45.950 about a hundred -year -old man who suddenly stopped 00:00:45.950 --> 00:00:52.810 going to church. And the priest was concerned 00:00:52.810 --> 00:00:57.590 about his welfare. And so he paid him a visit. 00:01:00.289 --> 00:01:05.969 And when he saw the aged parishioner was relatively 00:01:05.969 --> 00:01:13.560 in good health, He said to him, Mr. Jabura, why 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:16.859 did you stop attending the liturgy on Sundays? 00:01:19.620 --> 00:01:23.959 Well, he said, Father, I'll tell you why. You 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:28.299 know, I always like to come to church. But when 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:33.060 I got older and started to prepare for my death, 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:42.640 I really... began seriously thinking about church. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:50.340 And when I reached mid -80s, I thought God would 00:01:50.340 --> 00:01:57.900 come to take me. But that didn't happen. And 00:01:57.900 --> 00:02:03.540 when I reached mid -90s, I was prepared to go 00:02:03.540 --> 00:02:06.299 at any minute. But again, God didn't come for 00:02:06.299 --> 00:02:13.930 me. So when I reached 100, I came to the conclusion 00:02:13.930 --> 00:02:20.210 that God had forgotten about me. And so the reason 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:23.530 I stopped coming is because I don't want to remind 00:02:23.530 --> 00:02:31.409 God about me. Well, there is some truth in that 00:02:31.409 --> 00:02:38.009 probably fictitious story. Because we know only 00:02:38.009 --> 00:02:40.909 too well, don't we, that when we don't attend 00:02:40.909 --> 00:02:44.409 a liturgy on Sunday morning, God notices our 00:02:44.409 --> 00:02:52.050 absence. He really does. Now, in contrast to 00:02:52.050 --> 00:02:57.530 this story, I want to remind you of last Sunday's 00:02:57.530 --> 00:03:06.060 gospel, which revealed God's miracle. By healing 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:10.879 the blind man. Here was a man who did everything 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:18.319 possible to get Christ's attention. And when 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:25.740 he heard Christ was passing by, he asked the 00:03:25.740 --> 00:03:28.960 people, what is the commotion all about? And 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:32.199 he was told that Jesus was coming. And that's 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:38.479 all he had to hear. So he began crying out intently, 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:43.840 passionately, Jesus, Jesus, have mercy on me, 00:03:43.900 --> 00:03:48.319 a sinner. And the people said, hey, man, stifle 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:51.819 yourself. We can't hear what the master is saying. 00:03:53.259 --> 00:03:55.759 But the more they told him, be quiet, and as 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:00.800 Father John said two weeks ago, shut up. He cried 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:04.900 out the louder. Jesus have mercy on me a sinner 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:14.159 and Christ had him brought and said to him what 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:17.480 can I do for you as if Christ didn't know his 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:22.199 problem already and the blind man said I want 00:04:22.199 --> 00:04:27.300 to receive my sight and Jesus said receive your 00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:35.620 sight notice your faith has made you well. Now 00:04:35.620 --> 00:04:39.360 in today's gospel, taken from the 19th chapter 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:44.259 of Luke, we learn about a man named Zacchaeus 00:04:44.259 --> 00:04:52.560 who did the most strange thing that a person 00:04:52.560 --> 00:05:03.610 could do. More about him later. I want to call 00:05:03.610 --> 00:05:10.250 your attention to the last verse in today's gospel. 00:05:11.470 --> 00:05:21.189 The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that 00:05:21.189 --> 00:05:27.029 which was lost. You know, in an earlier chapter, 00:05:27.329 --> 00:05:35.180 Jesus said, More or less the same thing. I have 00:05:35.180 --> 00:05:40.220 come not to call the righteous, but the sinners. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:46.199 And I would like for you to keep that in mind. 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:55.540 Because this passage is one of the most significant 00:05:55.540 --> 00:06:02.250 and important sayings. we have of Jesus in the 00:06:02.250 --> 00:06:13.089 Gospels. He has come to seek and to save. From 00:06:13.089 --> 00:06:15.949 the first book of the Bible, Genesis, in the 00:06:15.949 --> 00:06:22.110 third chapter, we read that it was God who sought 00:06:22.110 --> 00:06:31.420 and find The fallen Adam and Eve. After they 00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:39.800 sinned. And they went. To hide themselves. In 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:45.579 the garden of Eden. One of the first questions. 00:06:46.339 --> 00:06:52.839 That we read in the entire Bible. Is this. Adam. 00:06:54.199 --> 00:07:09.250 Where are you? Will seek. The lost and the found. 00:07:10.990 --> 00:07:15.290 And through the prophet Ezekiel. God declared. 00:07:16.589 --> 00:07:22.850 This message. I will seek the lost. I will bring 00:07:22.850 --> 00:07:27.589 back the scattered. I will bind up the broken. 00:07:28.389 --> 00:07:35.310 And I will strengthen the sick. There's so many 00:07:35.310 --> 00:07:42.389 other references to support the mission which 00:07:42.389 --> 00:07:48.970 Christ came. And that mission remains to this 00:07:48.970 --> 00:07:57.449 very day, to this very moment. Search and rescue. 00:07:58.769 --> 00:08:08.040 Search and rescue the mission. For sinners. I 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:10.079 happen to know a little bit about the rescue. 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:15.720 The search and rescue mission. Because we had 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:17.959 to go through it. When I was in the military. 00:08:21.220 --> 00:08:25.019 But in today's reading. Luke relates the story. 00:08:27.459 --> 00:08:31.339 Of an encounter. With this man named Zacchaeus. 00:08:36.460 --> 00:08:42.039 The encounter took place. In the ancient city 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:52.039 of Jericho. Christ. Went through Jericho. In 00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:56.340 order to get. To Jerusalem. Which would be his 00:08:56.340 --> 00:09:15.529 last visit. On his way. there was this humongous 00:09:15.529 --> 00:09:23.490 crowd gathering. And Zacchaeus, who was the chief 00:09:23.490 --> 00:09:28.330 publican or tax collector, and at that time they 00:09:28.330 --> 00:09:36.309 were comparable to the mafia of today. The chief 00:09:36.309 --> 00:09:40.730 collector of that ancient city was Zacchaeus. 00:09:43.149 --> 00:09:47.529 He reached the top of his profession, but was 00:09:47.529 --> 00:09:52.909 also the most detested and hated man in the region. 00:09:54.950 --> 00:09:58.710 And Luke points out another characteristic about 00:09:58.710 --> 00:10:05.629 Zacchaeus. We are told he sought to see Jesus, 00:10:05.769 --> 00:10:13.590 who he was, but could not. Because of the crowd 00:10:13.590 --> 00:10:19.690 and because he was of small stature. Visualize 00:10:19.690 --> 00:10:25.669 that, please. He was trying to see Jesus, but 00:10:25.669 --> 00:10:27.529 the crowds, he couldn't see above the crowds 00:10:27.529 --> 00:10:31.230 because he was a small person. Small physically, 00:10:31.450 --> 00:10:38.750 that is. So he asked the question, why was he 00:10:38.750 --> 00:10:43.370 trying to see Jesus? Was it out of curiosity? 00:10:45.070 --> 00:10:54.090 Doubtful. Conscience? Surely. Guilt? Without 00:10:54.090 --> 00:10:58.509 question. And from the text we know that he was 00:10:58.509 --> 00:11:04.110 a social outcast, a cruel, cold, insensitive, 00:11:04.330 --> 00:11:08.690 heartless man who filled his pockets with money. 00:11:10.259 --> 00:11:18.580 By deceitfully stealing it from the poor. Since 00:11:18.580 --> 00:11:23.139 he was of small stature, it was impossible for 00:11:23.139 --> 00:11:28.000 him to see Christ. And so I'm visualizing here 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:33.620 a little moment. And he said, well, it's useless. 00:11:35.899 --> 00:11:42.789 I can't see him. So he started to leave. And 00:11:42.789 --> 00:11:47.950 then he spotted a sycamore tree. So this little 00:11:47.950 --> 00:11:54.669 fellow ran to the sycamore tree and was able 00:11:54.669 --> 00:11:58.870 to jump on the first limb. And there he perched 00:11:58.870 --> 00:12:12.980 himself, hoping to see Jesus. He didn't dare 00:12:12.980 --> 00:12:18.940 go among the crowd. Because if he did, he knew 00:12:18.940 --> 00:12:25.320 very well he'd be elbowed. He'd probably suffer 00:12:25.320 --> 00:12:29.139 from a broken jaw or even a knife in his back 00:12:29.139 --> 00:12:36.659 because he was that detested. So rather than 00:12:36.659 --> 00:12:44.029 leaving, he did this childish thing. Disregarding 00:12:44.029 --> 00:12:48.289 his age and his position, he jumped up on a tree 00:12:48.289 --> 00:12:53.549 and there perched himself, hoping to see Jesus. 00:12:57.570 --> 00:13:00.990 Now, I think it's important to point out here 00:13:00.990 --> 00:13:07.409 that this was not a coincidental visit of Jesus 00:13:07.409 --> 00:13:14.570 to Jericho. Just like it was not a coincidental 00:13:14.570 --> 00:13:18.690 visit to Samaria to see the Samaritan woman. 00:13:20.629 --> 00:13:26.850 It's not only the encounter and Jesus' attitude 00:13:26.850 --> 00:13:31.389 toward Christ, but more important, it was Christ's 00:13:31.389 --> 00:13:34.769 love and attitude toward Zacchaeus, the sinner. 00:13:36.350 --> 00:13:41.340 And we are told that as he saw Jesus coming closer 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:49.120 and closer. The Lord looked at him. And I could 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:51.919 imagine what Zacchaeus was thinking. Man, he 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:56.639 sees me. He's going to tell me I'm going to hell 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:00.419 because of what I did, etc., etc. And what did 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:03.860 Jesus say to him? And I quote here in the scriptures. 00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:12.159 Jesus said, make haste. Come down. I need, need 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:19.700 to visit with you today. Visit with you at your 00:14:19.700 --> 00:14:25.100 house. Now we don't know, the scriptures do not 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:29.200 tell us what transpired. But we do know that 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:35.580 during this visit, and as a result of it, there 00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:40.610 was a dramatic change. profound, life -changing 00:14:40.610 --> 00:14:50.769 visit. In these words, we know that there was 00:14:50.769 --> 00:14:54.889 something very significant that happened to the 00:14:54.889 --> 00:15:09.009 heart of Zacchaeus. Jesus said this, after Zacchaeus 00:15:09.009 --> 00:15:13.009 showed his repentance by saying to the Lord, 00:15:13.110 --> 00:15:20.669 Lord, I want to give half of my possessions to 00:15:20.669 --> 00:15:26.210 the poor. And I'm ready to repay fourfold anyone 00:15:26.210 --> 00:15:36.330 I have cheated. And the words of St. James comes 00:15:36.330 --> 00:15:44.490 to mind. Faith without words, without actions, 00:15:44.570 --> 00:15:57.669 is dead. The old cliche is true. God hates the 00:15:57.669 --> 00:16:03.389 sin, but never withdraws his love from the sinner. 00:16:04.110 --> 00:16:09.690 And so he said to Zacchaeus, salvation has come 00:16:09.690 --> 00:16:14.250 to your house, Zacchaeus. Salvation has come 00:16:14.250 --> 00:16:20.830 to your house. Christ did not die for saints. 00:16:23.070 --> 00:16:31.850 He died for sinners to make them saints. In receiving 00:16:31.850 --> 00:16:37.419 Christ, Zacchaeus experienced the forgiving love 00:16:37.419 --> 00:16:45.120 of God. He received it in his love and in his 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:55.220 heart. And ultimately and always, faith and repentance 00:16:55.220 --> 00:17:02.279 must be generated from the heart. The word of 00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:09.029 God teaches That Jesus did not come to invite 00:17:09.029 --> 00:17:14.569 people who are self -satisfied with their goodness. 00:17:16.529 --> 00:17:21.549 And who think that there is no need for them 00:17:21.549 --> 00:17:30.450 to come to the Lord. He came to invite those 00:17:30.450 --> 00:17:34.339 who are conscious of their sins. And who are 00:17:34.339 --> 00:17:40.480 in need of a savior. And I close by saying that. 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:47.079 Like Zacchaeus will never see Jesus. Never. If 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:58.799 we remain. On the level we are. Because there 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:01.900 are too many things my people. Too many crowds. 00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:07.019 Too many situations. Too many problems. Too many 00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:12.380 priorities. Too many ifs and buts. Blocking our 00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:21.359 view. The true view of seeing Christ. I'm not 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:25.940 suggesting that we need to climb a sycamore tree. 00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:33.180 Because there are other ways of seeing and experiencing 00:18:33.180 --> 00:18:39.400 the love of Christ. And what are these ways? 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:47.680 They're the trees of prayer, of worship, of sacraments, 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:56.400 scriptures, repentance, service, and love. Glory 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:00.359 be to him who has come. to seek and to save those 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:01.160 who are lost.