The gospel for Tuesday of the 33rd week in Ordinary Time is taken from Luke 19. At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man 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 of 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, zacchaeus, come down quickly for today I must stay at your house.

And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, he has gone to stay at the house of a sinner. 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 will 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.

The beautiful thing in this passage to me is the work of Jesus. He’s not come into the world to somehow judge us or show us our weaknesses, but to somehow, by his very presence, awaken in people a desire for the kingdom of God. And that kingdom is caring for the poor. It is making up for the things that you’ve done that have harmed people. Zacchaeus is a beautiful image of the gift that Jesus had brought to the world. After the music, I will close with a prayer.

Closing prayer. Father, help us to see you. Help us to understand you. Help us to know your gifts that are there for us. It’s our trust in you that is so important. Increase our trust.

And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.