Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

“When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”” (Luke 19:5.)

Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed during today’s Mass:

“The Lord, who had already welcomed Zacchaeus in his heart, was now ready to be welcomed by him in his house. He said, “Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down, since I have to stay in your house.” He thought it was a marvelous piece of good luck to see Christ. While imagining it was a marvelous piece of luck quite beyond words to see him passing by, he was suddenly found worthy to have him in his house. Grace is poured out, and faith starts working through love. Christ, who was already dwelling in his heart, is welcomed into his house. Zacchaeus says to Christ, “Lord, half my goods I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times over.” It is as if he were saying, “The reason I am keeping back half for myself is not in order to have it, but to have something from which to pay people back.”

There you are. That is really what welcoming Jesus means, welcoming him into your heart. Christ was already there. He was in Zacchaeus and spoke through him. The apostle says that this is what it means, “For Christ to dwell by faith in your hearts.”” (Sermon 174)

Collect

Almighty and merciful God,
by Whose gift Your faithful offer You
right and praiseworthy service,
grant, we pray,
that we may hasten without stumbling
to receive the things You have promised.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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