Zaccheus and the Sycamore

November 21, 2017
Tuesday, 33rd Week
in Ordinary Time
1st Reading:
2 Mc 6:18-31

Gospel: Lk 19:1–10
When Jesus entered Jericho and was going through the city, a mannamed Zaccheus was there. He was a tax collector and a wealthy man. He wanted to see what Jesus was like, but he was a short man and couldnot see because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up asycamore tree. From there he would be able to see Jesus who had topass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said tohim, “Zaccheus, come down quickly for I must stay at your housetoday.” So Zaccheus hurried down and received him joyfully.\ All the people who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has goneto the house of a sinner as a guest.” But Zaccheus spoke to Jesus,“The half of my goods, Lord, I give to the poor, and if I have cheatedanyone, I will pay him back four times as much.” Looking at him Jesussaid, “Salvation has come to this house today, for he is also a trueson of Abraham. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
To get a glimpse of Jesus, Zaccheus climbed a sycamore tree. To his surprise Jesus told him to come down because he wanted to go with him to his house. Jesus’ magnanimity triggered the generosity of Zaccheus. He came down not just from the tree but also from his powerful government office of tax collection. Then his conversion happened. He said, “I give half my belongings to the poor and if I have defrauded anyone, I pay him back four times”.The sycamore was one silent witness to the dramatic encounter between a sinner up on a tree and a Savior standing on the ground.  Calvary reversed this scenario. At Calvary, it was the sinner that stood on the ground as the savior hanged on a tree. Jesus asked Zaccheus to come down from the Sycamore tree, as the Jews would ask Jesus later to come down from the cross at Calvary. Zaccheus’ descent from the tree was a fitting symbol of his coming down from pride and returning in humility to the bosom of the Lord. He found his salvation by coming down from the tree; Jesus brought us salvation by refusing to come down from his tree. We can be sure of this: for every sinner who refuses to come down from his sycamore of pride and stubbornness, there is a God who continues to hang from the cross.
The higher you climb the ladder of power in society, the more your height in spirituality diminishes. Your diminutive height in spirituality may hinder you from reaching God.From the tree of power you now sit, look down and see God calling you down to his merciful embrace. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M. Email:[email protected].

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