Fr. Adolphe Khasa, sx
This Saturday the whole Catholic Church of Sierra Leone has gathered in Makeni to celebrate the closure of the national celebration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. We have bishops, priests, religious men and women, faithful Christians coming from the four dioceses of Sierra Leone, that is, the diocese of Kenema, Bo, Freetown, and Makeni. This gathering ended with the celebration of the Holy Mass presided by the Apostoic Administrator of Makeni, Bishop Natale Paganelli, sx. The general atmosphere was that of joy expressed through songs, prayer of rosary and procession. This joy echoes people’s happy journey with the merciful God along this Jubilee Year.
It is the same joy that follows from the meeting of Jesus and Zacchaeus that we find in the Gospel of this Sunday, the thirty-first in ordinary time (Lk 19: 1-10). In fact, the first reading from the book of Wisdom tells us though the whole universe is as small as a grain from a balance before God, God takes care of it: he has mercy on all, he overlooks people’sins that they may repent. For God loves all things and loathes nothing that he has made (Wis 11: 22 – 12:2). Therefore, God’s love for each of us is so permanent and constant that even when we willingly distance ourselves from God, he still treats us mercifully, gives us a second change because he hopes in our ability to change (Pope Francis: L’osservatore Romano, Sept 2016).
God’s merciful love remains active and concrete in our daily life. It mostly refers to a concrete event or experience that took place at a precise moment in time. An experience which a person remembers, gives thanks for, and celebrates (L’Osservatore Romano). If each of us looks in one’s own life journey and story, for sure one will not lack experiences to pinpoint. This Sunday, Saint Luke gives us the example of Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house. It might be nice to pause for a while on the person of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus’ job exposed him to sin every day. First, as a chef tax collector, Zacchaeus was at the service of the Roman invader army. This implies that he compromised with the worship of the emperor as a god. Secondly, he earned his living through the exploitation of poor people by laying down heavy taxes on them and stilling some money for himself. Basically Zacchaeus ‘s riches was built on the ruin of his fellow men and women. Consequently, Zacchaeus was a notorious sinner. Socially speaking, he was an isolated person with whom all contact was to be avoided at all cost like a contagious sickness. He was socially dead.
But through Zacchaeus’ eyes contact with Jesus’ loving eyes Zacchaeus repented. For sure, Zacchaeus’ eyes were the first ones gazing tirelessly at Jesus and hoping to be look at. Saint Paul puts it beautifully when he says to Thessalonians “we pay for you, that … our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him …” Zacchaeus’ eyes met the eyes of Jesus who neither judge, nor condemn nor dismiss anyone but draws near and even invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house. It was a great joy for Zacchaeus because he has been made pure as his Hebrew name (Zakkay) signifies. It was also a great joy for all the “Zacchaeus”, Catholic faithful, that came from various parts of Sierra Leone to celebrate the way God has mercifully treated each of us and all his people. Indeed this deed experience of joy should us to praise him as psalm 145 and it responsorial go: “I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God:”
You are gracious and merciful;
You are good to all and compassionate toward all your works;
Your are faithful in all your words and holy in all your works;
You lift up all who are falling and raise up all who are bowed down.
This extraordinary Jubilee year of mercy has been a journey through which each of us has learned, based on one’s personal experience, how to be a merciful person. Of course, God does not stop being merciful with the closure of this Jubilee year. God continues to be merciful, this time through each of us. The closure of this Jubilee year, as Pope Francis puts it, “sends us forth to treat our brothers and sisters in the same way that he has treated us. Each of us knows his or her own story and can draw from it. Mercy is learned, because our Father continues to forgive us. Shall we not do like Saint Paul when he shares with Timothy his own experience, saying: “But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience (1 Tim 1:16)?”
This Saturday the whole Catholic Church of Sierra Leone has gathered in Makeni to celebrate the closure of the national celebration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. We have bishops, priests, religious men and women, faithful Christians coming from the four dioceses of Sierra Leone, that is, the diocese of Kenema, Bo, Freetown, and Makeni. This gathering ended with the celebration of the Holy Mass presided by the Apostoic Administrator of Makeni, Bishop Natale Paganelli, sx. The general atmosphere was that of joy expressed through songs, prayer of rosary and procession. This joy echoes people’s happy journey with the merciful God along this Jubilee Year.
It is the same joy that follows from the meeting of Jesus and Zacchaeus that we find in the Gospel of this Sunday, the thirty-first in ordinary time (Lk 19: 1-10). In fact, the first reading from the book of Wisdom tells us though the whole universe is as small as a grain from a balance before God, God takes care of it: he has mercy on all, he overlooks people’sins that they may repent. For God loves all things and loathes nothing that he has made (Wis 11: 22 – 12:2). Therefore, God’s love for each of us is so permanent and constant that even when we willingly distance ourselves from God, he still treats us mercifully, gives us a second change because he hopes in our ability to change (Pope Francis: L’osservatore Romano, Sept 2016).
God’s merciful love remains active and concrete in our daily life. It mostly refers to a concrete event or experience that took place at a precise moment in time. An experience which a person remembers, gives thanks for, and celebrates (L’Osservatore Romano). If each of us looks in one’s own life journey and story, for sure one will not lack experiences to pinpoint. This Sunday, Saint Luke gives us the example of Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house. It might be nice to pause for a while on the person of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus’ job exposed him to sin every day. First, as a chef tax collector, Zacchaeus was at the service of the Roman invader army. This implies that he compromised with the worship of the emperor as a god. Secondly, he earned his living through the exploitation of poor people by laying down heavy taxes on them and stilling some money for himself. Basically Zacchaeus ‘s riches was built on the ruin of his fellow men and women. Consequently, Zacchaeus was a notorious sinner. Socially speaking, he was an isolated person with whom all contact was to be avoided at all cost like a contagious sickness. He was socially dead.
But through Zacchaeus’ eyes contact with Jesus’ loving eyes Zacchaeus repented. For sure, Zacchaeus’ eyes were the first ones gazing tirelessly at Jesus and hoping to be look at. Saint Paul puts it beautifully when he says to Thessalonians “we pay for you, that … our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him …” Zacchaeus’ eyes met the eyes of Jesus who neither judge, nor condemn nor dismiss anyone but draws near and even invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house. It was a great joy for Zacchaeus because he has been made pure as his Hebrew name (Zakkay) signifies. It was also a great joy for all the “Zacchaeus”, Catholic faithful, that came from various parts of Sierra Leone to celebrate the way God has mercifully treated each of us and all his people. Indeed this deed experience of joy should us to praise him as psalm 145 and it responsorial go: “I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God:”
You are gracious and merciful;
You are good to all and compassionate toward all your works;
Your are faithful in all your words and holy in all your works;
You lift up all who are falling and raise up all who are bowed down.
This extraordinary Jubilee year of mercy has been a journey through which each of us has learned, based on one’s personal experience, how to be a merciful person. Of course, God does not stop being merciful with the closure of this Jubilee year. God continues to be merciful, this time through each of us. The closure of this Jubilee year, as Pope Francis puts it, “sends us forth to treat our brothers and sisters in the same way that he has treated us. Each of us knows his or her own story and can draw from it. Mercy is learned, because our Father continues to forgive us. Shall we not do like Saint Paul when he shares with Timothy his own experience, saying: “But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience (1 Tim 1:16)?”