St. Charles Borromeo

Sunday, 04 November 2007
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Commentary of the day
Philoxenes of Mabbug : Zacchaeus discovers the only true good

Reading

Wisdom 11,22-26.12,1.
Indeed, before you the whole universe is as a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? But you spare all things, because they are yours, O LORD and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things!

Ps 145(144),1-2.8-9.10-11.13.14.
Praise. Of David. I will extol you, my God and king; I will bless your name forever. Every day I will bless you; I will praise your name forever. The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love. The LORD is good to all, compassionate to every creature. All your works give you thanks, O LORD and your faithful bless you. They speak of the glory of your reign and tell of your great works, Your reign is a reign for all ages, your dominion for all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in every word, and faithful in every work. The LORD supports all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.

2 Thess. 1,11-12.2,1-2.
To this end, we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ. We ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a "spirit," or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.

Lk 19,1-10.
He came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Commentary of the day

Philoxenes of Mabbug (?- c.523), Bishop in Syria
Homily 4, 78-80 (trans. SC 44, p.97)

Zacchaeus discovers the only true good

Our Lord called Zacchaeus out of the sycamore into which he had climbed and, at once, Zacchaeus made haste to come down and welcome him into his house. This is because, even before he had been called, he had hoped to see him and become his disciple. It is something worth admiring that he believed in him before Our Lord had ever spoken to him and before he had seen him with his bodily eyes but merely on the word of others. The faith within him had been kept safe within his ordinary life and soundness of mind. And this faith was made known when he believed in Our Lord at the very moment of learning of his coming. The simplicity of his faith was apparent when he promised to give the half of his goods to the poor and to pay back fourfold whatever he had unjustly taken. Indeed, if Zacchaeus’ mind had not been filled at that moment with the simplicity that belongs to faith, he could not have made that promise to Jesus and could not have spent and handed over in so little time what he had acquired in so many years of work. Simplicity handed out on all sides what cunning had gathered; purity of soul scattered abroad what duplicity had acquired; and faith renounced what injustice had obtained and possessed and it declared that these things were not its own. For faith, God is its only good and it refuses to possess any other good together with him. All possessions are of little importance, where it is concerned, besides that one, lasting good which is God. We have taken faith to ourselves so as to find God and possess nothing but Him and so that we might see that anything outside of Him is of no value.