How often do we go out on
a limb for our faith? Do we make an
extraordinary effort to search for God in our lives & to find the ways he
is present to us? Today, in the familiar
story of Zacchaeus, we see Zacchaeus literally climb a tree, to go out on a
limb, all in order to find God in his life.
In meeting Jesus, in having Jesus call after him, Zacchaeus responds
with his conversion and repentance. He
offers to give half of his possessions to the poor, by willing to make amends
to those whom he extorted money from during his work as a chief tax
collector.
God calls us in the
reality & the circumstances of our lives, just as he called out to
Zacchaeus while he was up in that tree. In our Church, we commemorate the martyrs who
have given their lives for the faith.
November 16th was the anniversary of 6 Jesuit priests, their
housekeeper, and her daughter, who were all martyred in the country of El
Salvador in Central America in 1989 at their residence at the university. In December of 1980, 3 American nuns and an
American lay missionary were abducted, raped, and shot in that same
country. They gave up their lives for
the faith in the midst of a revolution and great political turmoil in this poor
Latin American Country. In our own way, in the reality of our own lives, we are
also called to go out on a limb in order to find Jesus in our own lives &
to be witnesses for the faith. “The struggle against injustice and the pursuit
of truth cannot be separated nor can one work for one independent of the
other”: These are words spoken by Father Ignatio Ellacuria, the superior of
that Jesuit community that was martyred.
His profound words challenge us to live out the justice that God’s truth
calls us to, a justice that cannot be separated from our faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ. So, as we reflect upon
today’s Gospel story of Zacchaeus, might ask ourselves this question: How is
God challenging us today to go out on a limb and to live out his justice in our
lives?
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