At that time, Jesus 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, “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.” – Luke 19:1-10
I like this story. Perhaps it is because there is a little of the Zacchaeus in me (the need for salvation part, not the wealthy part). Here is this guy who isn’t at the top of the social register, just wants to lay eyes on Jesus and ends up with salvation coming to his house.
As I was listening to this gospel in Mass today (for the umpteenth time), the image of Pope Francis leapt into my mind. The Pope is the sort of Christian who, like Christ, would reach out to a sinner like Zacchaeus. And the Pope doesn’t seem worried that when he visits a jail, gives an interview to an atheist or calls a troubled soul on the phone, well, he generates some grumbling.
When Christ invited himself over to Zacchaeus’ house, “they began to grumble.” The passage says they were upset that Christ was going to stay at the house of a sinner. But I expect that behind that complaint was the thought, “he ought to stay at my house, because I’m a good person.”
Like Christ, the Pope’s choice of companions sometimes elicits a bit of grumbling. Yet, over and over in the gospels, Jesus asks us to rejoice when a sinner is saved (think of the prodigal son). The Lord spends precious little time praising those who methodically follow all the “rules.”
This isn’t to say that rules are bad, and heaven knows I could use a little more knowledge of — and appreciation for — the “rules” of our faith. I just hope my pursuit of perfection never blinds me to the beauty of a holy man pursuing a sinner.
