Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dancing with my niece Becky
on her wedding day

But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;
and you overlook people's sins that they may repent.
For you love all things that are
and loathe nothing that you have made;
for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.

Happy Halloween to you! So far as I can tell most Catholics are comfortable with Halloween. Besides the fact that it anticipates All Saints Day, which people might otherwise forget, it’s a celebration of our fearlessness in a sometimes frightening world.

Speaking of which, don’t forget to hold your nose and vote on Tuesday.  Living in the same world where Jesus was born, we know we have to compromise in order to practice our faith. In an imperfect world there are no perfect choices.

Remember that the candidates who run for lower offices today might run for higher office tomorrow, so study them well and choose carefully. Your votes for mayoral councils and school boards are ones that make a difference.

And now back to our regular homily:

Whenever I come to this gospel story I remember a second grade class in which the children reenacted the Conversion of Zacchaeus. The smallest girl played Jesus; the smallest boy played Zacchaeus; and I was the tree. Because they were the smallest children in the class they seemed to have a liking for one another. Perhaps it was the first time either had been allowed to play a special role. In any case, when the little “Jesus” saw the tiny “Zacchaeus” sitting on my shoulders her eyes shone with happiness and affection. It was easy to see how the Lord could love such a charming fellow, regardless of the crowd around him.

The gospel is about forgiveness. It’s about God’s willingness to forgive in every case and our reluctance to forgive except in certain rare instances. If the sinner has done nothing terribly serious; or if he has truly shown his remorse and demonstrated repentance; and if there is something to be gained by reconciliation such as the reuniting of a family: we might forgive. The more compassionate among us might even make allowance for the foolishness of youth and the wisdom of maturity.

But our forgiveness is usually qualified by caution and conditions. As we say, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Which of us is prepared to forgive seventy times seventy times?

I’ve always thought the Pharisees were onto something when they questioned Jesus, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Forgiveness is an act of God; it is a breath of the Holy Spirit which flows through us, especially when we consider how often we have sinned and been forgiven.

The best and most popular confessor-priests I have known were those whose sins were all too well known. I remember dear Father S whose health was destroyed by alcohol. His last bottle of beer put him in a coma for three weeks. His past was not exactly an open book but I had the feeling there was no sin I could confess that he had not committed twenty years before. By the grace of God he had come to peace with himself. He spoke with authority when he administered the Sacrament of Penance; his joy was generous and his affection, heartfelt.

Our Sacraments show us the overwhelming holiness of God in the light of our inexcusable sins. As we confess our sins, we remember the enormity of God’s generosity:

Grandpa's delight

Before the Lord the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.

The Sacraments of Penance permit us to show compassion to one another time and again, and to work with one another in a less-than-perfect world.