Many years ago, before my conversion, I was constantly worried about the future. When I saw the book of revelations I saw it as an omen, a warning, a portent that proclaimed that pain and despair were coming. It’s so easy to get caught up in worry. The news continues to make it seem as if the world is full of anger, hate, and violence. Men beating each other in the streets, school shootings, bombings, and the sheer anger of the political process all make us want to throw our hands up in frustration. The second reading for this Sunday morning tells us “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.”
Paul reminds us that we are supposed to be keeping our eyes on Jesus. That’s part of the message Jesus has for us too in the Gospel. Zaccheus was a wealthy man and one of authority. He had every opportunity for distraction, and like most of us every opportunity for fear and worry as well. With all the people upset with him for being a tax collector, all the others who were after his money, false friends, Romans who were fickle and dangerous, and so forth. It would be easy for Zaccheus to constantly worry about the future, or even to dwell on the past every single day. Instead, we find Zaccheus ‘seeking Jesus.’ That’s something all of us are doing, even if we don’t realize it. The human heart is created to love, created in the image of a God who is a relationship, who is the very act of being itself. It looks for Him. It longs for Him. It will only be complete when it allows Him in it to fulfill its desires and longings.
Often though the things of this world get in the way. We can’t see Jesus because of all the things competing for our attention. Sports, binge-watching TV, pornography, drugs, even video games or ’causes’… all have a way of drawing us in. They make us feel ‘better’ for a short time, while in essence, they can’t replace Jesus. They are like the crowd, standing between us and Him. Some of them can even be good things. A political rally or an environmental concern can be a good cause to get involved in, but only when it’s done for the right reasons and with our eyes still firmly fixed on Jesus.
So how do we see Him? How do we like Zaccheus shimmy up the tree so we can see over the crowd and clearly to our savior? The tree is the Church, it’s teachings, it’s Traditions and Sacraments. They are all limbs that constantly bring us higher, closer to God. They lift us above our own egos and base instincts. Remind us that to be like God is to act like God and that is acting like God, we become more like God. The word Liturgy itself reminds us of that simple truth. Liturgy is not about us. Liturgy has a threefold meaning, the very word means “work of the people.” With that in mind it means:
1. That it is indeed something we do. We pray the words, we turn the pages, we use the book or the device to pray along with the Church.
2. Salvation can only be done by Christ, it is His work being done through us. It is Christ who is the principle worker, he is doing it for us because we can’t do it for ourselves.
3. We are a Roman Catholic Church, our Church and its teachings were influenced by the Greek mindset. Remember in Greek mythology they would imitate God. So if it were Poseidon you’d go fishing, Dyonisis, have a drink, Aphrodite? Love etc. In the Liturgy, we ‘imitate’ God, in doing what Christ does through the Liturgy, by praying it and growing to be more like Him through His work in and through us. “The work of the people imitating the work of God.” So that God is praised.
So again, Liturgy is not about us. Not about what we get out of it, but about participation with the right attitude. It’s ‘somehow’ the work of the people, but it’s not simply our work. So everything we choose to do, whether we do it aloud etc, should be to be like Christ, to grow closer to Him, to let Him work through us. The Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Sacraments are all the branches that we need to get up higher so that we can grow to be more like Christ. In particular, the Eucharist, which the Catechism declares is the Source and Summit of our Faith, we believe to be the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is there principally that we come face to face with Jesus Christ, that we see the Lord we have been seeking, and we receive Him who will change us, make us more like Him, and indeed grow to allow us to see with His eyes. That way, when we look out into the world, when we look at each other, we begin to see Christ who is Omnipresent, in every person we encounter.
Remember this quote, when you next approach Jesus in the Eucharist:
When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries.
– Saint Josemaria Escriva
Then after having received, attempt to see Him, the same groom who has been waiting for you for twenty centuries, peering out from the eyes of all of humanity, in the poor, the widow, the orphan, the refugee, even the political opponent, simply longing for your love.
A reflection on the readings for November 3rd, 2019: The Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time.