Zacchaeus, Reconciliation and La Salette

Christ saw Zacchaeus in a tree

You remember him – his name was Zacchaeus, the short man who climbed the tree in order to see Jesus (see Luke 19:1-9)… In the time of Christ, tax collectors were a special breed of sinner. They were across-the-board violators of God's law and public traitors who licked the boot of the local Romans who had all the power.

Now, Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector in his area. The gospel's choice of sinner is intended to show the saving force of Christ's personality. It is also meant to make manifest the power of his mercy. We don't often associate mercy with power, but in cases like this one Christ's mercy is powerful indeed. It was strong enough to have Zacchaeus come down from his tree to a new life. His story does not define conversion but shows us what it looks like in real life.

A Gift That Changed His Life

1. Conversion is always a gift of God. In fact, God came into a human life and changed it. Zacchaeus climbed his tree to see Christ. Christ saw Zacchaeus and invited himself into his house.

2. But Zacchaeus had to respond. He had to act. His first response consisted in shimmying down the tree… This is a meeting with Christ and the beginning of intimacy with the Lord. This intimacy exists only when the sinner allows Christ to come close enough to change this person's life. He was surprised to be called by name. It always is a surprise to be called by God… When he climbed his tree, Zacchaeus never imagined that he would come down with his life changed forever.

3. Reconciliation-conversion is a joyful experience… Zacchaeus might have lost a little dignity coming down from his perch but come down he did “and received him with joy.”

4. Reconciliation is a turning toward God… Zacchaeus knew that conversion involved more than shimmying down his tree and giving the Lord a day's hospitality. It demanded a change in his relationships with God… He came down to Christ and to earth, to daily living, to the neighbor, to the renewal of love in life.

5. Christ invited Zacchaeus to himself. This invitation was a public act of acceptance on the part of Christ. In the eyes of the crowd, Zacchaeus was a vicious and pitiless enforcer of the Roman tax laws. Christ well knew that simply talking to this man would bring him shame; living in Zacchaeus' house would entail cultic impurity and provoke resentment among the crowd. It did: "All the people saw this and began to mutter, 'He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"

…In spite of appearances, Christ is the one providing real hospitality here, the hospitality of acceptance… Christ had received Zacchaeus into his "house" before Zacchaeus had received him into his…

The ministry of reconciliation demands some involvement from the "reconciler." By his or her acceptance of "sinners," of people, he becomes the sign of God's acceptance and forgiveness. Conversion may be a grace, or free gift, to the sinner, but to the one who serves it, the minister of reconciliation, it is never "free”…

The Stories of Zacchaeus and Mary at La Salette

La Salette is a reconciling act. In the Zacchaeus story, Christ says, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house." At La Salette the Lady says: "Come near, my children. Do not be afraid. I am here to tell you news of the greatest importance."

Both parties were given a call to which they responded immediately. In each story, that of Zacchaeus as well as that of La Salette, Christ was the focal point and wanted to become involved in the lives of those he was calling.

The cross that rested on the Lady's breast witnessed to the fact that she too, was preaching Christ and Christ crucified. She gave the unspoken message that the reconciliation she came to bring about could not be achieved without the mystery of the cross. By making the cross of Jesus part of her visual message she reminded the world that the Passion of Christ continues in time and space and that the reconciling mystery and sacrifice of the cross would continue until the end of the ages.

Our Lady of La Salette explicitly proclaimed that there could be no ministry of reconciliation without suffering. "How long have I suffered for you," she says to the children. "If my Son is not to cast you off, I am obliged to entreat him without ceasing. No matter how well you pray, no matter how well you act, you will never be able to make up to me what I have endured in your behalf." We know how Maximin and Melanie paid with their very lives for the ministry of reconciliation that the Lady had confided to them. These few words, 'You will make this known to all my people," altered their lives forever.

The reconciliation of Zacchaeus prompted him to turn to the neighbor. He remembered to reimburse abundantly all those he had cheated. The Lady, of course not to be otherwise compared with Zacchaeus, was constantly attentive to the needs of her people. In fact this was the framework of her message – her concern for her people.

I’d like to conclude with a brief story about a central notion of conversion, taken from The Song of the Bird, by Anthony de Mello, S.J., (Anand-Press, Gamdi-Anand, Gujarat, India, pgs.83-84) entitled:

Don’t Change

I was a neurotic for years. I was anxious and depressed and selfish. And everyone kept telling me to change. And everyone kept telling me how neurotic I was. And I resented them, and I agreed with them, and I wanted to change, but I just couldn't bring myself to change, no matter how hard I tried.

What hurt the most was that my best friend also kept telling me how neurotic I was. He too kept insisting that I change. And I agreed with him, too, though I couldn't bring myself to resent him. And I felt so powerless and so trapped.

Then, one day, he said to me, "Don't change. Stay as you are. It really doesn't matter whether you change or not I love you just as you are; I cannot help loving you." Those words sounded like music to my ears: "Don't change. Don't change. Don't change – I love you." And I relaxed. And I came alive. And, oh, wondrous marvel, I changed!

Now I know that I couldn't really change until I found someone who would love me whether I changed or not – someone who could love me as I am.

God, do you love me that way?