Sunday’s Readings:
Wisdom 11:22-12:2; Psalms 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13, 14; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10
Jubilee Year of Mercy
October 30, 2016 Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Last Sunday’s Gospel gave us a tax collector’s beautiful prayer to take with us from this Jubilee Year of Mercy. Today, another tax collector’s encounter with Jesus offers a comforting memory to cherish, but also a challenging mission to embrace. Zacchaeus’ short stature (see Luke 19:3) matched how contemptible, socially and spiritually, Zacchaeus’ religious acquaintances considered
tax collectors to be. Jesus counters that judgment with mercy. Radical sin meets unmerited grace. God seeks and finds the lost; a sinner’s home becomes salvation’s house. The sinner
“quickly” welcomes salvation “with joy” (19:6), while the righteous grumble judgmentally at God’s mercy. Mercy challenges us, too. Like Zacchaeus, we have been sought and found by Jesus, called by name to welcome Jesus into our heart’s home. Therefore, we must go forth from this Jubilee
Year of Mercy as “ missionaries of mercy,” seeking our fellow sinners with Jesus, receiving them with joy (see 19:6) as cherished brothers and sisters, and joyfully offering our judgment free
hospitality as Jesus’ own “Welcome home!”
—Peter Scagnelli, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.