Today’s Gospel text about the tax collector Zacchaeus is particularly providential, considering the upcoming elections. Unfortunately, some might try to twist the meanings of this text to suit their own purposes.
For instance, some might try to use it to justify imposing higher taxes on the rich (the tax collector was “also a wealthy man”) to give to the poor (“half of my possessions … I shall give to the poor”), and others might treat it as a call to reduce unfairly high taxes (“if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over”).
Of course, both of these would be gross distortions of the Gospel based on worldly priorities. Ironically, this is exactly what this passage is intended to instruct us not to do.
Zacchaeus is guilty of the sin of greed, which, like all sin, is rooted in a distorted attachment to things of this world. Not much has changed in 2000 years: going into next week’s election, many polls suggest that many voters have set some distinctly worldly things as their priorities, e.g., economics, health care and even emotions. But we should ask ourselves if this does not, to some extent, reflect an attitude similar to Zacchaeus’s: a wrongheaded attachment to the things of this world, at the cost of forsaking what should be our true priority: attachment to Christ.
Perhaps we see this mirrored in some political campaigns. How many politicians tell us that they cannot allow their faith to influence the laws they legislate or enforce — placing the priorities of world above the priorities of Christ? Even politicians who quote Scripture often tend to use those quotations solely to justify their actions regarding the worldly desires of their constituents: e.g., to support raising or lowering taxes.
But the satisfaction these things bring us is passing. Wealth is soon spent, emotions change and health inevitably yields to illness or age. And all things yield to death.
All things, that is, but Christ. The only thing that will bring everlasting joy is life with Christ, a life that can begin today, in this world, if we stop clinging to the world, and instead cling to Him. If we respond to Jesus as Zacchaeus did, “quickly” and “with joy,” and allow Him to set our priorities and teach us to appreciate the things in this life in the right way, His way.
The things of this world are not bad — after all God made them to be “very good” (Gn 1:31). Economic security is not bad, but treating the loss of a million new jobs a year as more important than the destruction of a million new unborn human lives a year is bad. Health is not bad, but clinging to it by killing embryonic babies to use their stem cells for medical research is bad. Emotional happiness — even sexual satisfaction — is not bad, but distorting God’s gift of the union in marriage of male and female is bad.
Like the Word of God itself, the goodness of God’s creation is easily misunderstood and abused by our sinfulness. As we continue to meditate on this passage this week, let us ask ourselves how we have distorted our love for creation by not first loving our Creator with all heart, soul and strength: how do we cling to worldly things and fail to cling to Jesus? And let us beg the Lord Jesus to give us the wisdom and the courage to seek the joy of heaven in this world by setting our priorities according to His priorities, and conforming our choices to His holy will.
Fr. De Celles is Parochial Vicar of St. Michael Parish in Annandale, Virginia.
(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
