Homily 3.11.2019

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today's gospel speaks about a man whose name was Zacchaeus. He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was. Right away we can ask: why was Zacchaeus anxious to see Jesus? Probably, because he heard about Jesus, maybe Zacchaeus knew that Jesus was capable of performing miracles, or maybe he didn't have anything more interesting to do. "He was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man". He had other people working for him.  Zacchaeus as one of the senior tax collectors didn't have to work, which meant Zacchaeus had a lot of free time. He  was seeking for something meaningful in his live and one day Jesus entered Jericho.

According to Luke's Gospel Zacchaeus was too short and could not see Jesus. He, therefore, ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way. He was so determined to see Jesus, he was ready to climb a sycamore tree just like a child not like one of the senior tax collectors.

What happened next: Zacchaeus saw Jesus and Jesus saw Zacchaeus and then spoke to him: "Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today".

A beautiful story, but what is the importance of this story for us?

Do we want to see Jesus?

Are we ready to run ahead and climb a tree because we want see Jesus?

Are we ready with faith to handle adversity in our lives?  Zacchaeus was too short to see Jesus, he overcame his limitation and  finally he was able to see Jesus.
But this story is not finished. When Zacchaeus saw Jesus, to some people Jesus was doing something incredible by saying, "Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today".
 Brothers and sisters today Jesus call us: Mark, Michael, Jacinta, Pam, Halinka, Stefan and everyone else... come down. I must stay at your house today.
Are you ready? First I need to ask myself: Am I ready accept Jesus in my house?
 If my answer is: Yes and if your answer is Yes ... ATTENTION 

When Jesus entered Zacchaeus' house, his life changed completely: "Look, Sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount". Why Zacchaeus, one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man,  became a benefactor of poor people? There is only one answer: he met Jesus and that was enough for him. If we one day will be able to meet Jesus in our life that will be the most incredible experience. We can't wait any more, the day is today. Today, 3 of November is the perfect day for meeting Jesus. Look the last sentence of today's gospel:
"Today salvation has come to this house"- it's not tomorrow or next week but today is the day which we can met Jesus.