REFLECTIONS TODAY
LUKE 19:1-10
On March 16, 2020, the entire Luzon island, composed of eight administrative regions, was placed under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) or total lockdown due to Covid-19. Consequently, churches were closed and mass religious gatherings were prohibited, which lasted for a time. The actual Holy Week celebrations in 2020, for example, literally did not happen in the way the Filipino Catholics used to celebrate them in the past.
With such unprecedented situation, many Catholic faithful did experience a kind of intense longing for the actual celebrations of the Holy Eucharist. Online Masses sustained the spiritual life of many believers during the lockdown, but we cannot also deny the deepest desire of many faithful to be intimately connected with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
Zacchaeus, in today’s Gospel, longs to see Jesus. That is why upon learning that Jesus is passing by, he never thinks twice in finding a way to see him. But there are limitations. Jesus could not simply be seen due to a large crowd. Moreover, Zacchaeus is of small stature. He needs to make himself taller should his longing to see Jesus be satisfied. Climbing a sycamore tree becomes his solution. What he does must have been awkward, but it does not matter. The heart will always find a way to have its emptiness be filled.
As the Gospel narrative unfolds, it is revealed that Jesus’ heart also longs for something: to seek what is lost. Before Zacchaeus is able to see Jesus, Jesus sees him already. Jesus does not only look up to see Zacchaeus; he gives Zacchaeus his full attention, a gesture that fills the emptiness in Zacchaeus’ heart. Zacchaeus experiences the love of Jesus, and his heart overflows with joy. And as we know, a heart that overflows with joy will always be ready to change for the better.
Zacchaeus is not perfect. He is the chief of those hated by the people due to their job as tax collectors. Being collaborators of the Romans and perceived extortionists, tax collectors are labelled as public sinners. With this, we would understand Zacchaeus’ desire of seeing Jesus. And we would understand his response upon experiencing Jesus’ love. He is resolved to give half of his possessions to the poor and to return fourfold whatever he extorted from anyone. In the end, Zacchaeus is a changed man.
When the Catholic believers were not able to attend actual celebrations of the Holy Eucharist during the period of lockdown, many longed for it. Many came to see the value of the Eucharist in an even more profound way. The limitations became God’s way of bringing the faithful intimately closer to him. Prior to the pandemic, many Catholics would attend Masses mechanically. With the experience of crisis, we hope that the Catholic faithful will now truly value the Eucharist and will no longer attend the Mass out of mere obligation.
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” St. Pauls, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.