The Sunday of Zaccheus reminds us that the time of Lent is coming. We Byzantine Catholics do not only have Lent as a preparation for Easter, but we also have a preparation for the preparation, we have a preparation for Lent. Do you know why? Because we need to prepare ourselves always. We are leading such busy lives that even I cannot remember all my duties that I have for the next week, my calendar is so full. This is the reason why the Church is offering us a pre-Lenten season, so that we can think about our lives and make a reflection on our lives.
Speaking of today’s Gospel, every one of us can say: “But I am not Zaccheus. I am not a tax collector.” Or another will say: “I am not that sinful. Why do I need to repent?” To answer that, I want to remind you of the principal person/character of the “movie” - it is not Zaccheus but it is Jesus Christ Who stands in the center.
Jesus Christ is at the center of the Gospel. Other persons are sort of like a background to help us understand what is happening. Today in this Gospel of St. Luke, we see in Zaccheus a wonderful virtue which every Christian should have. What is this virtue? Desire. To have a desire to be close to Jesus and to see Him. Because of this desire, you made all the preparations to come to Church this Sunday. Without this desire, you may be thinking right now about what you should prepare yourself for lunch or you are already thinking of preparations for another week because on another day you are going to work. “Because I need to prepare for this, you know.”
Sunday for a Christian is not a time of preparation for another week! Sunday is a time of confirmation of our desire to see Jesus, to see Him up close, to be with Him. It is not to meet a bishop or a priest - we need to meet God instead. This was the desire of Zaccheus that was so important. Many times he tried to go and see Jesus, but do you know what his obstacle was? The opinions of others. “What will another say about me? What will their opinions be that I, sinful as I am, want to see Jesus?” He feared and was stuck in his fear and this prevented him from going with the crowd to see Jesus.
We do not attend church because of another, or to see the style and dress of another or to attend a good party! It may have been that way in the past. Zaccheus’ desire was so great that he didn’t care anymore about the opinion of another, he cared about the opinion of Jesus. So he climbed up the tree, and Jesus came to him and He spoke first: “Zaccheus, come on down.” What is surprising? Jesus knew his name. God knows all of us by name whether or not we attend church. And what happens? He comes down from the tree and Jesus enters his house, for Jesus said: “I have to enter into your house.” Jesus was hungry and after preaching for some time He wanted to eat. So Jesus said to Zaccheus: “I must have dinner today in your house.” Do you know what this sharing is? It is the Holy Eucharist. This is a sign that Jesus wants to share this Holy Eucharist with us, because God shares. God is not an individualist who goes to buy McDonald's and is eating it in His own car. God wants to share.
Our eating habits have lost the dimension of community. Jesus is not immediately asking Zaccheus: "What is your sin, how much money have you stolen, have you treated your neighbors well?" No. Jesus wants to be with him. God wants to be with us. God loves us. This is important to know. And Zaccheus feels accepted. So after the first course of the meal - usually this is the place for a toast - Zaccheus stands up and he himself says: “What I have stolen, I return fourfold.” And Jesus says: “Salvation has entered your house today.” Because who is this salvation? Jesus Christ!
Desire is active, as we see. This desire takes concrete steps. This desire leads Zaccheus to change his life, it causes a change of heart.
Brothers and Sisters, believe me, this is the biggest problem human beings have had from the beginning, from Adam and Eve up to now. Why do we have wars? Why is there so much hate going on around us? What is the TV and news full of? It is founded in our heart because our hearts are not transformed. No wonder your kids are not coming to church, they have no desire to see Jesus but they have a desire to see something else: sports, soccer, hockey, baseball. But regarding the Church? We are minimalists - it is enough for me to do only that.
But God created human beings for great desires. Obviously, if we are not seeing the necessity to be loved by God then we are not changed. In my pastoral letter at the beginning of the Church Year, I invited everyone to frequent confession. We need to go to regular confession so we can have this experience of forgiveness. Many times you are not able to forgive, to forgive your husband, your wife, your children, your boss at work, your teacher, your priest, your bishop. If we lack the experience of forgiveness and being forgiven, we will always be unhappy human beings.
And this is affecting our relations. How are we maintaining these relations? Everybody is smiling at one another, but in my mind I have second thoughts. This is hypocrisy. We are hypocrites; we are presenting one thing, but we are thinking another. This is our sin, brothers and sisters, this is our sin. We have to confess to get rid of our sins because it is not possible to change our lives on our own. If I do not change my life, I should not expect a change in the life of another. Do not expect the life of your son or daughter to be changed, and maybe they are already adults with their own families. Why? Because they are observing you and they are not seeing a change of heart in you. This is a serious problem in our Church all around the world. We believe the lie of the devil that we are the best. If you are the best, you don’t need to change, you don’t need repentance, you don’t need confession. It is enough that every Sunday you stand in a row to receive Holy Communion. That’s it. But many times we are receiving our own judgement in Holy Communion.
But we have a chance; we have the chance of Zaccheus - to ask for a desire. God is loving you! God is inviting you and everyone else to follow the desire of Zaccheus to be attracted to Jesus’ way of life. I pray for you that you all have this desire and that nothing will be more important to you than to see God.
✠ Most Rev. Milan Lach, SJ
Bishop of the Eparchy of Parma