Condemn the Sin but not the Sinner.

Sunday Reflection on the Liturgy 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

Luke 19:1-10

October 31, 2010

Zaccheaus is actually a nickname for Zechariah. It literally means “ righteous one.” But Zaccheaus was not known to be a righteous man. He was known as the Chief Tax Collector of the City of Jericho. His job made it easier for any Jew to condemn him without having to know him personally.

FIRST, nobody wants to pay taxes, especially if the taxes went to the government of Rome and not of Judea. The Romans were oppressors, and the tax collectors were their agents. Tax collectors were considered Traitors.

SECOND. Since taxes were collected to pay tribute to Rome, the Jews saw this as an offense against the law of Moses- that the chosen people are not held bondage to any man. The Jews saw the taxes as a form of subjugation that was made possible because of the tax collectors, who were fellow Jews. For this reason, the tax collectors were considered immoral people who sold their souls to the devil. Tax collectors were banished from the synagogues, and disowned as Jews. They were considered as “outcasts” and publicly branded as “sinners” who can no longer be saved.

THIRD, tax collectors were corrupt and greedy. Because the tax collection was farmed out by the Romans, it was given to the most efficient collector. He would then sub contract other collectors. Tax collectors would often collect more than what was due, and resorted to extortion. Those who would refuse to pay were reported to the Romans. The collection was likewise vested with personal interest considering that the tax collector gets to keep the excess collection. Tax collectors were rich, because they were taking money from their countrymen.

This was the case of Zaccheaus, Chief Tax Collector of the City of Jericho. He had a lot of tax collectors under him, and a lot of taxes were collected because of him. For this reason,  a lot of Jews hated him even if they did not know him personally all because he was the Chief Tax Collector. His reputation preceded him, he was infamous.

Here comes Jesus, whose reputation also precedes him. Jesus was also known to love the poor, that he healed the sick, fed the hungry. He was known as the savior- the one who would deliver the Jews from their oppressors. Jesus was famous and a lot of people loved him.

This meant the end of the career of Zaccheaus. He knew that he was condemned by the Jewish society and didn’t expect Jesus to treat him any better. Despite this, Zaccheaus still desired to personally see Jesus when he heard he was coming. Because he was of small stature, he climbed a Sycamore Tree and was able to see him. To his surprise, Jesus approached him, called him by his nick name and even invited himself to his house.

What may be the reason for this? Jesus does not want us  to immediately judge Zaccheaus just because of what he does for a living. Jesus wants us to get to know the person rather than condemning him immediately even if we have to exert much effort such as inviting ourselves. As Stephen Covey would say it " Seek first to understand, in order to be understood"

It is worthy to note that Jesus did not defend Zaccheaus for what he did, so it can be argued that he obviously was not in favor of his job and what he was doing. The point that Jesus was driving at is that while we can condemn the sin, we should not condemn the sinner. We can only forgive a person that we do not hate.

Zaccheaus did not cry for forgiveness out loud. So why did Jesus save him?
There were a lot of people, and Jesus would not have heard Zaccheaus if he was crying out loud for forgiveness. But the actions of Zaccheaus were louder than his words. This is the compelling evidence proving that he was seeking forgiveness.

Jesus saw what other people did not see. He saw how Zaccheaus found a way to overcome his small stature that prevented him from seeing Jesus he climbed the sycamore tree. Zaccheaus likewise did not allow his reputation to stop him from his desire to change. Zaccheaus did not only find a solution to overcome the physical barrier but likewise climbed over the psychological or social barrier that prevented him from seeing Christ. 

Subsequently, Zaccheaus exhibits true repentance by giving half of what he owns to the poor. At that time,  generosity was quantified such as  giving 20% of what you earn. Obviously Zaccheaus act of giving 50% of what he owned was far more than being generous. But Zaccheaus doesn’t stop there. He pledges Jesus that he will restitute anyone he has wronged by paying them four times. The legal requirement for anyone who has wrong someone was to give back what was taken, or to pay twice, thrice up to four times as much. So Zaccheaus was willing to restitute anyone at the maximum allowed by the law. Historians say that Zaccheaus became a full pledged apostle of Jesus after his death. He was later nicknamed "Matthias" who replaced Judas Iscariot upon Jesus' Ascension. He later and founded a sanctuary in France.

Well, it turns out that the infamous Zaccheaus, Chief Tax Collector of the City of Jericho, exceeded the requirements and practices set by the Rabbis and Pharisees. Jesus made the right choice in approaching Zaccheaus and inviting himself to his house. Zaccheaus was a true repentant sinner, and for this reason, he was saved.

Divine Justice condemns the sin but forgives the repentant sinner.


GOSPEL READING 
Catholic Homily / Sunday Reflection on the Liturgy 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
October 31, 2010

 Luke 19:1-10

[1] Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. [2] A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. [3] He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. [4] So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. [5] When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." [6] So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. [7] All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' " [8] But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." [9] Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. [10] For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

PROUD to be HUMBLED

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

October 24, 2010

We have heard about the story of the Pharisee and the Tax collector several times, and we all know how the proud Pharisee is humbled for exalting himself while the Tax collector is exalted for being humble.

Allow me to argue the case of the Pharisee.

Pharisees were Religious leaders who encouraged the Jewish people to pursue righteousness by following the Jewish laws and not compromising with the beliefs of the Romans. They were very influential to the common people and were respected by the Romans for this.

They were so serious in following the laws of Moses that they began imposing their conservative interpretation on to it to the point of legislating “implementing rules” on how to follow the Mosaic Law. They called these rules, “the oral law” and by faithfully obeying the oral law, they were assured to have followed the Mosaic Law.

The Oral law is not as simple as the rules that we are required to follow in Church such as genuflecting. Oftentimes, they were even more difficult to follow.  One of those rules was “Tithing” which mandated them to give 1/10 of whatever they own or earn to the poor. So if this Pharisee earned 1,000 talents, he would give up 100 talents to the poor. A talent was 33kg of silver, which today is more or less $13,530 or P 581,790.00[1]. That’s a lot of money.

Another rule was to fast twice a week (every Monday and Thursday) as an intercession for nation building. Hence, the sacrifices of the Pharisee were also for the Jewish nation.

Admittedly, not everyone could follow what the Pharisees practiced. Hence they deserved to be lauded and emulated. Obviously, the Pharisee had something to be proud of.

In stark contrast, the Tax collector was the exact opposite of the Pharisee. He was not a leader of the Jews but a servant of Rome. He did not follow the law of Moses but instead enforced the law of the Roman Oppressors particularly on Taxation.

The Tax Collector was not a nation builder, but considered a Traitor because he was building the Roman Empire.

He was not giving anything that he owned but instead was getting more than what was required through over assessment. He usually extorted people, threatening them to be arrested by the Roman Soldiers if they would not pay the tax he assessed of them.  The Jewish people hated them, and the Romans only saw their worth on the amount of taxes that they could collect.  Obviously, the tax collector had a lot to be ashamed of.

Yet in Luke’s version of the Gospel, Jesus tells us that it was the Tax Collector who was justified and not the Pharisee. This was for the simple reason that the Pharisee look down on the tax collector. If God is happy with penitent sinners, isn’t he also happy with those who strive hard not to avoid sin?

  

This judgment doesn’t seem fair for the Pharisee. He made so much effort to follow the law but in the end it was the Tax Collector who was justified. Had the Pharisee known this, then he wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble of devoting his entire life in taking the law seriously.

  

What went wrong here? He didn’t do anything bad to the tax collector. He just thought that he was better than him for all the things that he was able to make in contrast of the others. What was wrong with that? If the Pharisee committed a sin in looking down at the tax collector, surely it was nothing compared to the sin of the tax collector. He has done so many accomplishments compared to the tax collector.

The accomplishments of the Pharisee are indeed remarkable and extraordinary.  But accomplishments themselves do not gauge our salvation. The Pharisee forgot one important thing- He forgot to ask for God’s mercy. He was too meticulous in following the law, the traditions and rituals to the extent of compromising its real intent and purpose.

He became too self-righteous that he forgot that he was still a sinner who needed God’s mercy to be saved. 

At different points in our lives we have become like the Pharisee and the Tax collector. If we are ahead of others, it is partly because God allowed it to happen.

The purpose of St. Luke in composing the parable this way was not to discourage the people who strive hard to become righteous. Rather, it was meant to remind us that everything that we accomplished was made possible because of God’s love and mercy.

We just have to do what we can and need not take life too seriously just like the Pharisee. No matter how righteous we think we have become, we are still sinners who need to ask for God’s mercy. Hence we should not look down on others.

It is God who saves us, not ourselves. God assures us that even if we have done the exact opposite of what we are suppose to do; we can always repent and change. A penitent sinner is always a recipient of God’s mercy and therefore can still be justified.

In the final analysis, it appears that life even on heaven is not fair.

The thing that saves us is not only Divine Justice but Divine Mercy. 


Lord God, your honor, I rest my case.

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Reading 1

Sir 35:12-14, 16-18

The LORD is a God of justice,
who knows no favorites.
Though not unduly partial toward the weak,
yet he hears the cry of the oppressed.
The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan,
nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint.
The one who serves God willingly is heard;
his petition reaches the heavens.
The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds;
it does not rest till it reaches its goal,
nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds,
judges justly and affirms the right,
and the Lord will not delay.

Ps 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23

Responsorial Psalm

R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the Lord hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18

Reading 2

Beloved:
I am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have competed well; I have finished the race;
I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.

At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf,
but everyone deserted me.
May it not be held against them!
But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength,
so that through me the proclamation might be completed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.
And I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat
and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom.
To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Lk 18:9-14

Gospel

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
"Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity --
greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

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[1] P 43.00 = $1.00

FASTER: SLOW JUSTICE IS NO JUSTICE

Catholic Homily/Sunday Reflection

29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

October 17, 2010

Reflection on Lk 18:1-8

I came across the poster of the new movie of Dwayne Johnson entitled FASTER: SLOW JUSTICE IS NO JUSTICE. This movie is perhaps where he puts the Law into his hands. Hands that throw hard punches against the bad guys in order to put things back in order. Sometimes, I wish I could do the same. I wish I could make Justice run faster.

In my humble experience in the practice of law, I could say that the wheel of justice runs relatively slow. This is partly because there are few Judges and plenty of cases clogging the dockets.

If it is a high profile case, involving famous and powerful people, with all the media coverage, the judge may give it some special attention. But if the case involves insignificant people, justice is slower.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus actually tells us that DIVINE JUSTICE IS FASTER.

For us to understand this, Jesus relates God to be like that of a Judge.

A judge, whose impiety made him no fear of God and because of his power,  no respect for man. 

In gist, God in the parable is a stone cold judge who could not be influenced by power or money.

Then this judge happens to have in his docket of cases, the case of the widow.

The widow is hard pressed in her case because her opponent is rich and powerful. She asks the judge to render a JUST DECISION for her against her adversary.

The case of the widow is the least of the concern of the judge. She is insignificant and does not deserve to receive special attention, especially since there are other cases that are far more important things for the judge to attend. So the judge pretends not to notice her, but she continues to come to him everyday to appeal to him.

Then the judge realizes that if he will not attend to her concern- if he will not render a JUST DECISION on her case, she will continue to bother him and eventually will destroy his reputation that will continue to haunt him for the rest of his life.

So the judge, a person who is not influenced by power or money, immediately attends to the concern of the insignificant widow and renders a just decision on her case.

This is in essence Divine Justice. It is delivered to us FASTER because God attends to our case no matter how insignificant we are. Some of our prayers before God are petty, childish and even confusing, yet GOD listens to us and renders a JUST DECISION based on what is good for us at that moment. It may not be the answers that we have been looking for but we can trust that it is a JUST DECISION.

DIVINE JUSTICE IS FASTER because SLOW JUSTICE IS NO JUSTICE AT ALL.

The Journey to Healing

A reflection on today’s Gospel, Oct. 9, 2010
 http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/luke/luke17.htm#v11

Today’s Gospel, which is according to St. Luke, tells the story of Jesus healing the ten (10 ) lepers.

St. Luke, is a Physician by profession. It is said that he is actually Greek and not Jew. I do not know if St. Luke was really there when Jesus was approached by the lepers, because it is said that a big part of his writing where based on his research rather than his personal knowledge. At this point it time, I find the symbolism in the Gospel more important than the accuracy of the facts.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus was on a journey. He was travelling to Jerusalem probably symbolizing the last part of his ministry.

When Jesus entered a certain village, he was approached by ten lepers who asked for mercy. The lepers were outcasts and could not enter the walls of Jerusalem. Leprosy at the time of Jesus was not only a dreadful disease but was considered a type of sin.

Perhaps the symbolism here is that at a certain point in our lives, we have become like leapers- rejected from the love of our families, work and society. But the Gospel tells us that despite being in such a sorry state, Jesus comes to us giving us the opportunity to ask for his mercy.

St. Luke, despite being a physician did not state how Jesus cured the lepers. Instead, he narrates that Jesus told the lepers to show themselves to the Priests- a requirement of the law to declare that a leper has been cured so that he/she can re-enter society. If this would have happened in the present day, Jesus would have told them to present themselves to a Dermatologist who could give a medical finding that indeed the were cured of the leprosy. 

Luke did not say whether all of the lepers were healed at the same time, only that they proceeded to the present themselves to the priest and were cleansed.  Perhaps the Gospel is telling us that, when we ask for Jesus to heal us, he does not heal us immediately even if he can. He tells us to have faith and to proceed to present ourselves to the priests who will eventually declare us to be healed. Some may have been healed on the early part of the journey, like the Samaritan, others could have been healed half -way, and others may take a longer time. The healing happens on the way.  But rest assured, everyone gets healed and the healing happens on the way.

One of the lepers, a Samaritan, saw that he was healed, turned back and gave glory to God. The symbolism of the Samaritan means that Jesus heals everyone who asks for his mercy. Why did the Samaritan turn back? Was it not Jesus' instruction to present himself to the priest? Perhaps because the law of the Jews does not apply to him because after all he was a foreigner. Perhaps he did not need the verification of the priest to declare him to be healed. We do not need to be declared to be a good Christian before we begin acting like one.

Then Jesus told him “ Stand up and GO, your faith has saved you.”Jesus gave the Samaritan another gift. He did not only cure him physically but spiritually as well. He gave him salvation. 

Our nation is sick, not of leprosy, but of over population, corruption- the list goes on.

The laws that have been passed are not perfect. Obviously, the RH Bill is not the perfect solution to address population control regardless of the critics coming from the Church. The government cannot afford to supply these contraceptives (ethical or not) to all the poor and to the persons responsible in making our country over populated.

We cannot rely on ourselves to solve this problem. No matter how confident we are in solving the problem or how brilliant we are in proposing an ethical solution. We are all sinners. Sin is the great equalizer and we are all equal in the eyes of God.

Bearing this in mind, we should still be as desperate like the lepers in asking for God's grace and mercy with all our hearts. God's mercy is given to those who asks for it.

But it is not enough TO ASK FOR GOD'S MERCY with all our hearts. Like the Samaritan, we should  also learn to GIVE THANKS and TO PRAISE GOD in a loud voice, TO PRAISE HIM WITH ALL OUR STRENGTH. This is in essence what the Gospels tells us.

Jesus has healed the ten lepers, but only one of them came back and gave thanks. To the ten, Jesus only gave cured them physically, but for the one who came back and gave thanks, Jesus also cured him spiritually, he saved him.

Have a pleasant day and God Bless Us all.

Enough Faith to Forgive

This coming Sunday's Gospel starts with an excerpt of Chapter 17 in the Gospel according to St. Luke, where the apostles tell Jesus "Increase our faith." Why did the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith? 

If we read the entire chapter, this was the response of the Apostles to Jesus when he told them to forgive their brother every time he asks forgiveness. 


Sometimes it is impossible to forgive, especially if you have been wrongfully accused and crucified in media of having done things of which you never did. It is impossible to forgive if after you have given forgiveness, the person shows no remorse but does the same offense or even does worst.

So did Jesus increase their faith? He did not.

Forgiveness may seem to be a leap of faith, but Jesus figuratively tells us that even if we have so little faith, such as the size of a mustard seed, we can do the impossible -such as asking a mulberry tree to plant itself in the sea. We do not need to have so much faith in order to forgive.

Our society is governed by laws of reward and punishment. This is often times our interpretation of justice, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. As Shylock the Jew ( in the Merchant of Venice) would have said, "if you (Christians) prick us, do we not bleed, if you (Christians) wrong us, do we not revenge?" Justice should be served.

But again the Gospel tells us that as Christians, we should do more than what is expected. We should do more than what we are obliged to do. If we do exactly what Shylock has said, then what difference does it make to be Christian. 

Seeking Justice should still be made, but as Christians, seeking justice should not prevent us from forgiving. It is not enough to do what the law requires.This is what I think Jesus meant when he said that "we are unprofitable servants, we do what we are obliged to do. 


Justice should not prevent us from forgiving, which is an exercise of our faith. Having faith is not a question of having too much or having too little, to do something great or impossible. The message of the Gospel is not about having enough faith. The Gospel is telling us that having faith is enough when it comes to forgiveness.