SHORT REFLECTION: 31ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
The Gospel today speaks about the chief tax collector, a wealthy man, named Zaccheus. He wanted to see Jesus, but could not because of the crowd and because he was very short. His shortness was not only physical, but he may have been short in spiritual things. Due to his self-sufficiency and collaboration with the Romans, his fellow countrymen held him in low regard. Due to his shortness, he climbed a sycamore tree in order to be able to see Jesus. When he tried to see Jesus, he had no idea that Jesus wanted to meet him. As soon as Jesus saw him, he told him to come down the tree because He (Jesus) wanted to meet him in his house. Zaccheus pledged to give half of his money to the poor and four times the amount to the people he had cheated.
All of us like Zaccheus are sinners who do not get the respect that we do not deserve. That's why it is hard to believe that this would not have affected us or tempted us to feel undeserving of Jesus' mercy. However Jesus came to earth to save sinners, and we ourselves are the perfect "candidates" for his mercy and forgiveness. To accept the mercy and compassion of our God and to be able to share it with others, we have to put into practise the message of today's Gospel: we have to come down from the sycamore tree of our self-sufficiency and repent of our sins.
