St Paul has a shocking phrase in the first Letter to St Timothy: "I am the greatest of sinners."
- St Paul was one of the greatest saints who ever lived.
- The guy was volcanic. He crisscrossed the ancient Mediterranean world to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to countless people.
- He would ultimately die as a martyr for Christ.
So, when he says "I am the greatest of sinners" is it simply a pious exaggeration? Not at all. St Paul took Christ's words in today's gospel seriously: "The Son of Man has come to seek and save what was lost." Each one of us needs to be sought and saved.
Seek. God is always seeking us. Sometimes we believe that we are the ones looking for him, but the only reason we can even look for him is because he's already looking for us.
- St John of the Cross said that if we are seeking God, know that he is seeking us even more.
Jesus did not walk by that sycamore tree by accident: he had been planning his encounter with Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was mired in his sins, trapped in a selfishness he could not escape. Jesus came to find him.
Save. But Jesus did not only come to seek. He came to save. We cannot heal ourselves from sin. Whether it appears to be a terrible, glaring sin, or whether we think it is a peccadillo, we can't save ourselves. But Jesus can. And in today's gospel he sets Zacchaeus free.
This is the meaning of Christ's wonderful words that he came to seek and save what was lost.
Saint Ignatius Loyola Gets Radical
When St Ignatius Loyola studied in Paris in the 1530's, a priest he knew was not exactly a paragon of virtue.
- He had broken his vows and was living with a woman.
- He was giving terrible example to others.
St Ignatius was not content to ignore this man's moral misery. He prayed for him. He sacrificed for him. And he did something else. He went to his house one night, knelt next to his bed, and asked him to hear his confession.
When the priest witnessed Ignatius's faith, something changed. He returned to the priesthood and began to dedicate himself to serving God's people. Through Ignatius Loyola, Christ came to seek and to save what was lost.
Let Us Be Found
Zacchaeus allowed himself to be found. He did not hide from Jesus but went out on a limb in order to see Jesus (literally).
Christ also asks us to let ourselves be found by him. He is always seeking, but, since we're free, we have to choose to be found.
One of the most powerful ways to do that is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Christ meets us in a personal encounter of mercy.
When we go to confession, Jesus repeats the same words he said in Zacchaeus's home: "Today salvation has come to this house."