“O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

Chapter 19: 1-10       Zacchaeus the Tax Collector                       

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus uses many parables to illustrate his Good news.

“The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector” in Luke 18: 9-14 is my favorite where Jesus made comparison between the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The Pharisee was bragging or boasting about his righteousness… thanking God that he was “not like the rest of the humanity – greedy, dishonest, adulterous, even like this tax collector, fast twice a week, pay tithes.“ While the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

In the Gospel of Luke 18:18-25 A Rich Official encountered Jesus and asked “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” After the rich official told Jesus that he had kept his commandments since his youth, Jesus said to this rich official, “There is still one thing left for you: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come a follow me.” But when he heard of this he became quite sad, for he was very rich. Jesus looked at him and said, ”How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

Climbing a Sycamore tree – a humble act for the Chief Tax Collector

According to the Gospel of Luke, it was not long after he told the above parable and encountered the Rich Official that Zacchaeus the Chief Tax Collector of Jericho who was also a wealthy man encountered Jesus. Zacchaeus probably has heard about Jesus and his teaching. He was seeking to see who Jesus was but he was short so he climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus. At this juncture, I want you to try imagining that someone short, very wealthy (humbling himself) by climbing a tree in order to meet Jesus. That act of humbleness perhaps caught the eyes of Jesus. And, Jesus asked him to come down quickly, for he must stay at his house.

Can you imagine what an honor it must have been for this little man Zacchaeus, a chief Tax collector for Jesus to stay at his house? His is a kind of smallness that is far more devastating than being short. His smallness emerges from his terrible self-image resulting from others’ attitudes toward him. Though a member of a group that was widely despised, Zacchaeus appears in today’s story as a fundamentally honest and humble man who seeks the truth and is open to finding it where he can, even if it means climbing a sycamore tree in a crowd, just to catch a glimpse of Jesus.

Give half of his possessions to the poor, those that I have cheated, I shall repay it 4 times over – “Zacchaeus acknowledges that he is a sinner needing the mercy of God”

Zacchaeus provides a contrast to the rich man of Luke 18:18-23 who cannot detach himself from his material possessions to become a follower of Jesus. Zacchaeus, according to Luke, exemplifies the proper attitude toward wealth: He promises to give half of his possessions to the poor, and consequently is the recipient of salvation.

We have much to learn from Zacchaeus - His humility, his recognition of his sin, his act of reparation.

“O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

Transformation

In his Letter to Priests written for Holy Thursday 2002 (Nos. 5-6), the Servant of God Pope John Paul II wrote these words about today’s delightful Gospel story:

Everything that happens to him (Zacchaeus) is amazing. If there had not been, at a certain point, the ‘surprise’ of Christ looking up at him, perhaps he would have remained a silent spectator of the Lord moving through the streets of Jericho. Jesus would have passed by, not into, his life. Zacchaeus had no idea that the curiosity which had prompted him to do such an unusual thing was already the fruit of a mercy which had preceded him, attracted him and was about to change him in the depths of his heart. [...]

Luke’s account is remarkable for the tone of the language: Everything is so personal, so tactful, so affectionate! Not only is the text filled with humanity; it suggests insistence, an urgency to which Jesus gives voice as the one offering the definitive revelation of God’s mercy. He says: ‘I must stay at your house,’ or to translate even more literally: ‘I need to stay at your house’ (v 5). Following the mysterious road map which the Father has laid out for him, Jesus runs into Zacchaeus along the way. He pauses near him as if the meeting had been planned from the beginning. Despite all the murmuring of human malice, the home of this sinner is about to become a place of revelation, the scene of a miracle of mercy. True, this will not happen if Zacchaeus does not free his heart from the ligatures of egoism and from his unjust and fraudulent ways. But mercy has already come to him as a gratuitous and overflowing gift. Mercy has preceded him! [...]

This is what happens in the case of Zacchaeus. Aware that he is now being treated as a ‘son,’ he begins to think and act like a son, and this he shows in the way he rediscovers his brothers and sisters. Beneath the loving gaze of Christ, the heart of Zacchaeus warms to love of neighbor. From a feeling of isolation, which had led him to enrich himself without caring about what others had to suffer, he moves to an attitude of sharing. This is expressed in a genuine ‘division’ of his wealth: ‘half of my goods to the poor.’ The injustice done to others by his fraudulent behavior is atoned for by a fourfold restitution: “If I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold” (v 8). And it is only at this point that the love of God achieves its purpose, and salvation is accomplished: ‘Today salvation has come to this house’ (v 9).

Love from Christian Perspective

1) GospelMt 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law tested him by asking,
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" 
He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

2) Jewish idea of Love

The Jewish idea of responsibility when it comes to who is to be loved goes like this. Everyone was to love God, that was compulsory. But everyone else was graded as to how much love they were to be given. There were those people to whom it was a responsibility to show love. Those on the outer circles of the community, like outcasts, sinners, tax collectors, Gentiles, Samaritans etc, some were to be loved less, or others were owed no love whatsoever. The Pharisees had established many laws to help people in their observance of this command. These laws told people whom they were to love, and whom they could ignore.

By saying that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love your neighbour, this gives a new slant to the traditional interpretation. To love God that was clear enough but to also say to love one another in the same breath puts both of these commands on an equal footing.

The love of God and the love of our neighbour are inseparable. You cannot claim to love God if you don't love your neighbour. Essentially the entire law of God can be boiled down to two simple commandments: Love God with your whole being; and love whomever God puts next to you as you love yourself.

3) What is LOVE?

Before we go any further we need to understand what Jesus means here when he uses the word love. That little four letter word "love" is used in many contexts. We talk about loving our dog, loving strawberries and ice-cream, or loving a member of the opposite gender. When we use the word love like that we are expressing our affection and have warm feelings for whatever it is that we are loving. Because we associate the word "love" with affection it’s no wonder that we have difficulty loving those people who annoy us, those who have hurt us, and those who don’t deserve to be loved.

When the Bible talks about love it primarily means a love that keeps on loving, it means commitment. We may have warm feelings of gratitude to God when we consider all that he has done for us, but it is not warm feelings that Jesus is demanding of us. It is stubborn, unwavering commitment. It follows then that to love one another, including our enemies, doesn’t mean we must feel affection for them, rather it means a commitment on our part to take their needs seriously, just as God committed himself to taking our needs seriously by sending his Son into this world. You see this in marriages where because of the aging process one partner has become physically incapacitated, difficult to live with, very demanding, and yet the other partner keeps on caring and putting up with it all. That’s coming close to the biblical idea of love. It’s that commitment even though it isn’t deserved. It’s that stubborn, unwavering commitment to the other person’s needs often at a great sacrifice to him/herself.

4) Example of Love in action.

This kind of love doesn’t come naturally. It is true that this kind of love comes from God, but putting it into practice is something we have to work on. Love – commitment - is a deliberate action of the will. To love means deliberately to turn toward another person and their needs, to give away something of ourselves to someone else without thinking of what we will get in return. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 15:25-37) we see an example of a man loving his enemy, committing his money, time and energy to seeing to the needs of the man lying in the gutter. He stopped to help and to hang with the consequences. All he could see was someone in need. This kind of love/commitment is self-sacrificing. It is putting the other person first, whether it is God or our neighbour.

In all honesty, it doesn’t take much imagination to realise that this kind of love has been in short supply in our lives.

Because this is not the case Jesus came to pay for our lovelessness. He showed us what true love is. His love touched the dumb, the deaf, the diseased, the disabled. His love warned, wept and washed dirty feet. His love told of a shepherd searching for lost sheep, a Father rushing out to embrace and kiss his lost son as he welcomed him home. His love turned the other cheek, and willingly walked that extra mile. His love carried a cross -- and died upon it! His love welcomed each of us into God's family, forgiving our sin in the water of our Baptism.

Jesus came to make us more loving. What form this loving takes is not important, but what is important is that it does take place. When you fail, remember Jesus loves you, and let his love shine through you into the lives of the people around you.

Copyright 2005, Pastor Vince Gerhardy

12 Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Does God Harden the Human Heart?

The words of the Apostle, "So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses" (Rom 9: 18) are highly puzzling, even scandalising, to some. In the circumstances, it is essential to know the background of this utterance of St Paul in his letter to the Romans, in order to resolve the doubt.

God chose Israel as his own people. But they rejected Jesus. Hence it was God's will that salvation should be given to the gentiles. God can, by his almighty power, bring anyone he likes to salvation and can punish anyone he wishes to punish - this is the underlying principle in St Paul's assertion in Romans (Rom 9:18), and it is in relation to this idea that his above statement should be seen.

The Background of the Old Testament

In order to proclaim God's name throughout the world and to reveal his power he raised up Pharaoh (cf Ex 9:16; Rom 9:17). All the same, Pharaoh became hard-hearted. This event in the book of Exodus is the background of Rom 9:18. We read several times in Exodus that Pharaoh became hard-hearted by refusing to grant freedom to the Israelites.

"Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go" (Ex 7:14). The same idea can be clearly seen again in Exodus 7:22; 8:15,19,32; 9:7. The truth is that by his own fault, Pharaoh hardened his heart (cf Ex 5:2). It is also true that God gave him several occasions to be converted. But Pharaoh failed to make use of those occasions and that is why God made Pharaoh's heart hard (cf Ex 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1,20,27; 11:10). Pharaoh could have cooperated with God as Cyrus the Persian king cooperated with divine inspiration and gave freedom to the Israelite nation. But he did not do so. We read in the Old Testament that God made the hearts of many other kings also hard (for example, cf Dt 2:30; Jos 11 :20). At the same time we must not forget that it is God himself who will "remove from...(our) body the heart of stone and give...(us) a heart of flesh"(Ez 36:2).

Jesus spoke in parables in order that "they may indeed look, but not perceive and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven" (Mk4:12). This is indeed a statement similar to that in Rom 9:18. Jesus is here quoting an Old Testament prophecy. "Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand" (Is 6:9-10). Though the people listened to the parables and teachings of Jesus, they hardened their hearts because of their own stubbornness. This is the meaning of the statement in the original Greek. The parallel statement in Matthew's gospel, "This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand" (Mt 13: 13 RSV) is more explicit and clarifies the idea further.

The Thinking of the Ancients

We need to see the viewpoint of the ancients in the statement “God hardened his heart.” The ancients did not clearly distinguish between the divine power and human freedom behind any action. They did not either do any philosophical analysis of the relationship between the two. Their guiding principle was to depend on God and go forward.

"But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is moulded say to the one who moulds it 'why have you made me like this?'" (Rom 9:20). Such trends of thought of St Paul are worth remembering in this context. The ancient people saw God as the final cause of all events. Man cannot of himself complete his sojourn in this world. The ancients firmly believed that God is the controlling power and Lord of all history. The truth is that even the sinful acts committed by man misusing his freedom were ascribed to God by Israel ! But we know that God does not make man commit sin. Neither does it mean that God beforehand decides and hardens man's heart. Man rejects God's love and call. God observes this and shows his displeasure towards man. In order to make this clear the Bible says "God hardened man's heart.” This does not conform to modern man's reasoning and thinking - that is all. God is also all merciful. To realise that God shows mercy to man is not difficult for us. That God who loves will also punish is a truth that stands revealed in the statement "God hardens man's heart”. Salvation and punishment go together. It is difficult at times to grasp this truth.

Man’s Freedom and Hard-heartedness

The history of man's first sin proves that though God's omnipotence is working in the universe and in individuals, man has the freedom to choose evil. Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, who lived in the beginning of the first century (A. D), had grasped this truth very well, It is the freedom to love God or to reject his commandments that makes man, man. A mechanical love and service of God have no validity. True holiness is to fight the battles of life, win the victory and be sanctified.

God does not make man fall into sin. The word of God testifies that there is no evil in him(cf Ps 5:4; Hab 1 :13). St James says this very explicitly: "No one, when tempted should say, ‘I am being tempted by God';  for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one" (1 :13).

All men are beggars before God. Those who prayerfully stretch out their hands before God,  the King of kings, will receive blessings and graces from him. It is no use being surprised at those who, because of their own fault fail to do so and consequently do not receive his mercy. Even today, of the people attending a convention, some achieve conversion of heart while others return with hardness of heart. At the last judgement there will be sheep and goats. In short, God’s absolute power and man's freedom are two sides of the same coin. One is at liberty to choose life or death (cf Dt 30:19).

Concluding Thoughts

It is true that God chooses some and punishes others. It was not the elder son Esau that he chose but the younger one, Jacob. In the sight of God no one has the right to demand justice or claim salvation. St Paul says very clearly that everything is God's gift and mercy. He has the freedom to distribute his gifts to those whom he likes. Man, however, has to do the works of justice, believe in Jesus Christ, the Apostle continues to explain. St James too highlights the necessity to do works of faith.

It is a fact that even today there are numerous people who refuse to listen to the word of God, and like Pharaoh and the Israelite nation, harden their hearts. "Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion"(Heb 3: 15). Let us listen to the prophetic voice telling us to remove from our body the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh (cf Ez 36:26). If this heart transplantation must take place in us we must have a heart on which the law is written by the Holy Spirit (cf Jer 31 :33).

Source: Questions PEOPLE Ask on the Bible by Dr. Paul Kariamadam

Faith apart from works is barren

Faith apart from works is barren


14 How does it help, my brothers, when someone who has never done a single good act claims to have faith? Will that faith bring salvation?

15 If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on,

16 and one of you says to them, 'I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty,' without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that?
17 In the same way faith, if good deeds do not go with it, is quite dead.
18 But someone may say: So you have faith and I have good deeds? Show me this faith of yours without deeds, then! It is by my deeds that I will show you my faith.

19 You believe in the one God -- that is creditable enough, but even the demons have the same belief, and they tremble with fear.

20 Fool! Would you not like to know that faith without deeds is useless?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

22 So you can see that his faith was working together with his deeds; his faith became perfect by what he did.

23 In this way the scripture was fulfilled: Abraham put his faith in God, and this was considered as making him upright; and he received the name 'friend of God'.

24 You see now that it is by deeds, and not only by believing, that someone is justified.

25 There is another example of the same kind: Rahab the prostitute, was she not justified by her deeds because she welcomed the messengers and showed them a different way to leave?

26 As a body without a spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds.

Cardinal Newman reiterates this point:

"On the whole, then salvation is both by faith and by works. St James says, not dead faith, and St Paul , not dead works. St James, “not by faith only, “for that would be dead faith; St. Paul, “not by works only,” for such would be dead works. Faith alone can make works living; works alone can make faith living. Take away either, and you take away both – he alone has faith has works – he alone has works who has faith."

Predestination - Homily of Fr Jessie

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A (July 24, 2011)
My brothers and sisters in Christ,
In our first reading today we heard about a man who made a good start toward the kingdom. His name was Solomon and ruled Israel after David. In a dream Solomon was offered anything he desired. He could have asked for wealth or triumph over his enemies, but he did not. He asked God for an understanding heart to judge his people and to distinguish right from wrong. It was a beautiful desire and it pleased God.

Solomon, however, was not able to carry on till the end. He got involved in lustful practices and he allowed foreign gods into Jerusalem. Solomon began a process of decline that required prophets to get them back on the right track. So, we can see in Solomon a man given the gift of wisdom, but then not carrying through to the end.

The second reading for today speaks about predestination.  Predestination is not understood as like a god who predestined Solomon to sin and eventually would perish to hell.  God could not be good and at the same time predestine some people to sin and hell. In our Catechism of the Catholic Church 1037 we read: "God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end.” It is truly not correct to think that we cannot choose good or evil; this has been chosen for us. Like Solomon, we cannot go around blaming the things that happen in our life to fate. Nor can we blame the devil as in “The devil made me do it".  We have to take responsibility for our own actions.  Even if something negative happens to us beyond our control, like sickness, we have the ability to use this situation to progress ourselves in virtue and glorify the Lord.  As St. Paul tells to the Romans, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Though it is also true that we have the ability to allow a difficult situation to destroy us but if we choose what is true and good then we are allowing God's predestination to take its effect among us.

Predestination is God's choice to share his love with us.  St. Paul tells the Romans that we are called to share the image of God's Son.  By sharing this image we are justified from our sinfulness, raised up to the life of God, and glorified with Him.  To put all this simply: we are predestined to share God's goodness, but we have the freedom to reject this goodness. 

Three aspects of God's kingdom are highlighted in today’s Gospel reading: the necessity of recognizing its ultimate value, the necessity of responding with total commitment, and the possibility of rejecting the gift of eternal life that it brings. Though we are predestined to share God’s goodness but if we fail to recognize its value and to respond with total commitment, we will soon suffer the pain of its loss.

Jesus offers us hidden treasure: his very self. We may have made a down payment on the hidden treasure, but what had happened to Solomon can possibly happen to us because unlike St. Francis or Mother Teresa, we have not yet sold all. Still, it is good to make the down payment…for if we trust in Jesus, he will help us complete the purchase. Make no mistake, the price is everything.


Puji Tuhan! Alleluia.

Matthew 5: 43 - 48. LOVE.

Matthew 5: 43 - 48. LOVE. 22 June 2011

1. The Gospel open with this verse
[43] "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

That is something that just come naturally to us. Those that are close to us, those that are like us, they are the ones we love. But our enemies - our natural response is to hate them.

Enemy is someone Who is Not Worthy of Our Love?

By human standards, there are some people who are just not worthy of our love. They don’t deserve it, and so they don’t get. That’s the way it works.

2. But Jesus has a different approach
[44] But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

God’s standard is different from human standards. Instead of asking, “Who is not worthy of your love?” God asks, “Who do you love who’s not worthy?” An enemy does not deserve your love, but God says to love him anyway.

Just what does it mean to love your enemy? These days love often gets defined as just an emotion, a feeling. But love in the Bible goes well beyond how you feel about something. It is a decision, sometimes a decision to do something opposite to what you feel like doing.

3. I’d like you to listen to the words of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 which we often hear in the context of loving people who we want to love. Tonight, I’d like you to hear these words and think about how they apply to your enemies.

So pick one or two of your enemies: someone who’s done you wrong. Think about that person and listen to how Jesus would have you treat them.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. [5] It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
[6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [7] It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. [8] Love never fails.

4. WHY?

Why should we love them? If we’re going to pursue something so contrary to our nature and our desires, we ought to have a good reason for doing so. Jesus tells us in verse 45 why we need to love our enemies:

[45] that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

There’s only one reason to love your enemies. You should do it because it’s just what your Dad would do. That’s just the way God treats them. When we love our enemies, we demonstrate that we are God’s children. We prove our relationship with him. Jesus gives two examples.

A)He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good,

B) and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

5. God’s Love is Based on Grace
God’s love is one sided. It’s non-reciprocal. You don’t have to do anything to earn God’s love, to deserve God’s love. You just get it.

6. Man’s Love is Based on Merit
human beings love on the basis of reciprocal relationships.

Our love is given in return for something else. In other words, I’ll love you because you’ve earned my love or because you’re entitled to my love. You love me. So I’ll love you back.

7. Jesus says, anyone can do that. But you can do better.

[46] If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?

[47] And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?

8. [48] Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

It sounds like Jesus is setting a standard we cannot possibly achieve. The word perfect here means complete or thorough. 4

Jesus is talking about the way we ought to love. Loving only our friends and our family is an incomplete love that any human being can do. But loving your enemy—loving those that hate you and those that hate God—that kind of love is mature. That is true love. Complete. Perfect.