{"id":10305,"date":"2015-11-17T08:34:27","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T13:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/?p=10305"},"modified":"2015-11-17T11:47:22","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T16:47:22","slug":"overcoming-obstacles-to-keep-our-eyes-on-god-33rd-tuesday-i-november-17-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/overcoming-obstacles-to-keep-our-eyes-on-god-33rd-tuesday-i-november-17-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming Obstacles to Keep Our Eyes on God, 33rd Tuesday (I), November 17, 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fr. Roger J. Landry<br \/>\nVisitation Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan<br \/>\nTuesday of the 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Year I<br \/>\nMemorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary<br \/>\nNovember 17, 2015<br \/>\n2 Mc 6:18-31, Ps 3, Lk 19:1-10<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>To listen to an audio recording of today&#8217;s homily, please click below:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-10305-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/11.17.15-Homily-1.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/11.17.15-Homily-1.mp3\">https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/11.17.15-Homily-1.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>The following points were attempted in the homily: <\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jesus\u2019 love for sinners was so profound that he literally went to the deepest place on earth in search of perhaps the greatest public sinner of that city, to reconcile him to the Father. Jesus went to Jericho, the lowest city on the planet \u2014 853 feet below sea level \u2014\u00a0to find Zacchaeus, who was not just one of a bunch of tax-collectors loathsome to the Jewish authorities, but the chief tax collector of the region. Jesus had promised that he, the Good Shepherd, would leave the ninety-nine sheep in his fold to search out and save one lost sheep, and this is what he did, leaving the crowds behind and entering alone with Zacchaeus into his home and into his life. He called Zacchaeus, his lost sheep, by name and heaven rejoiced on that day more for him than for all the others. So, too, today and everyday, Jesus takes the initiative of knocking at the door of our souls, asking for entry, coming to us wherever we are, no matter the depths to which we\u2019ve sunk, no matter the fact that perhaps everyone else around us might despise us. Jesus never abandons us. To the extent that we repent of whatever sins we\u2019ve committed and accept Jesus\u2019 gracious invitation by \u201cwelcoming him with delight,\u201d we, too, like Zacchaeus, can have salvation come to us.<\/li>\n<li>The diminutive Zacchaeus\u2019 climbing of the tree, moreover, is more than (merely) an interesting detail. The text tells us that he was trying to see Jesus, but could not because of the crowd, so he ran ahead and climbed a tree along Jesus\u2019 route in order to be able to see him. We, too, often cannot see the Lord because other people get in the way. They block our sight in countless ways. We\u2019re often too small of stature to see over such obstacles, and, unfortunately, too often others are too selfish, distracted, sinful, judgmental or out-of-it, to do anything to help us and bring us into the presence of the Lord. Like a little child, however, Zacchaeus climbs a tree to see the Lord. Such an act could have led to great mockery for a middle-aged public figure. Think about if you saw the head of the IRS or some cabinet official\u00a0climbing a telephone pole in order to get a better glimpse of the Pope. But Zacchaeus didn\u2019t care. He wanted to see the Lord and none of these obstacles was going to stop him. His example challenges each of us to consider what is the extent to which we go, what trees or obstacles we\u2019ll climb, in order to see Jesus more clearly. Are we capable of being accounted fools for Christ for following those means that others might consider silly if they will bring us into greater relationship with Jesus?<\/li>\n<li>The third thing this episode with Zacchaeus teaches us is that a true conversion to God also brings about a real conversion to others. The rehabilitation of our relationship with God is not meant to remain private, but is supposed to help us reexamine our relationship with others and inspire us to repair whatever harms we have caused.\u00a0Even though Zacchaeus, like his fellow tax-collectors, would have been guilty of ripping off the people of Jericho by unregulated over-taxation, he knew that he needed to make amends and to use the gift of his office to do good rather than evil. So he told Jesus, \u201cLook, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.\u201d\u00a0Strict justice would have required his giving back precisely what he had overcharged. If he had really wanted to be kind, he would have given it back with modest interest. But he was going to give it back with four-hundred perccent interest, which was a sign of great contrition for the gravity of his previous sins of stealing and intimidation.\u00a0Moreover, a strictly observant religious Jew would give ten percent of his income over to God and the poor. Zacchaeus committed himself to giving fifty percent of his income to those who were needy, which was a sign of great love and a recognition that others needed his money more than he did.\u00a0From that point forward, he was going to be an honest tax collector, a Christian tax collector, and use his office for his salvation and sanctification and for that of others. Zacchaeus likely remained a rich man, but one who used his riches, used what God gave him, for building up God\u2019s kingdom. We\u2019re called to do the same with whatever God has given us.<\/li>\n<li>The whole theme of overcoming obstacles to see Christ and find in him someone seeking us is living in the life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231) whose feast the Church celebrates today. She was the daughter of the King of Hungary and when she was four she was betrothed to Louis, the son of the Landgrave of Thuringia. She was raised with him for the next 10 years until the marriage, when she was 14 and he 21. Louis always supported St. Elizabeth\u2019s piety and charity. In the opening prayer of the Mass, we noted that by God\u2019s grace, Elizabeth was able to \u201crecognize and revere Christ in her neighbor,\u201d and because of that capacity to see and to love Jesus with passion, she is truly one of the most outstanding examples of charity in history. During a severe famine, she exhausted her treasure and distributed all her own store of corn to the poor. She build a hospital at the foot of the tall, rocky promontory\u00a0on which the Wartburg Castle was built so that the infirm and weak wouldn\u2019t have to climb it. She fed them with her own hands \u2014 as well as 900 others every day \u2014 made their beds and cared for them in so many other ways. She provided for orphans and helpless children. When many criticized her material benefactions as being excessive, her husband said that her charities would bring upon the whole realm divine blessings. But even he reached his limit once when Elizabeth brought a leper to the castle and had him sleep in their protected quarters as a type of quarantine. He rushed into the bedroom to drag away all of the bedclothes and other things that might carry the dreaded disease, but as he was doing so, he recognized that the leper had stigmata. Through his wife, he learned to recognize and revere Christ, to see and love him, in his neighbor, including the most revolting.<\/li>\n<li>In our life, however, we need to do more than just glimpse Christ once. We need to keep our eyes on him and that requires the perseverance of faith. In today&#8217;s first reading, we have one of the great examples of perseverance in Eleazar, a nonagenarian Jew whom the Greeks in 142 BC were trying to force to eat pork in violation of the Mosaic Law. He gives us unforgettable lessons about fidelity, courage, and the importance of setting good example. The Greek authorities opened up Eleazar\u2019s mouth and jammed it with pork, but he spat it out, knowing that the penalty for doing so was death. I\u2019ll let the author of the Second Book of Maccabees take it from there: \u201cThose in charge of that unlawful ritual meal took the man aside privately\u2026 and urged him to bring meat of his own providing\u2026 and to pretend to be eating some of the meat of the sacrifice prescribed by the king; in this way he would escape the death penalty, and be treated kindly because of their old friendship with him. But he made up his mind in a noble manner, worthy of his years, the dignity of his advanced age, the merited distinction of his gray hair, and of the admirable life he had lived from childhood; and so he declared that above all he would be loyal to the holy laws given by God: \u2018At our age it would be unbecoming to make such a pretense; many young men would think the ninety-year-old Eleazar had gone over to an alien religion.\u00a0 Should I thus dissimulate for the sake of a brief moment of life, they would be led astray by me, while I would bring shame and dishonor on my old age.\u00a0 Even if, for the time being, I avoid the punishment of men, I shall never, whether alive or dead, escape the hands of the Almighty.\u00a0 Therefore, by manfully giving up my life now, I will prove myself worthy of my old age, and I will leave to the young a noble example of how to die willingly and generously for the revered and holy laws.&#8217; Those who shortly before had been kindly disposed, now became hostile toward him because what he had said seemed to them utter madness.\u00a0 When he was about to die under the blows, he groaned and said: \u2018The Lord in his holy knowledge knows full well that, although I could have escaped death, I am not only enduring terrible pain in my body from this scourging, but also suffering it with joy in my soul because of my devotion to him.\u2019\u00a0 This is how he died, leaving in his death a model of courage and an unforgettable example of virtue not only for the young but for the whole nation\u201d (2 Macc 6:18-31).<\/li>\n<li>At the very end of his life, St. Paul wrote to St. Timothy, \u201cI have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Tim 4:7). Eleazar went out fighting that fight, finishing the marathon of life, maintaining the treasure of faith and being unwilling to betray the faith and the Lord who inspires it even to save one\u2019s life here on earth. He kept his eyes on God and resolutely persevered in that vision no matter what threats came. He teaches us that the older one gets, the holier one should be.<\/li>\n<li>At we come to the altar today, we can turn to the Lord and thank him for the example of Zacchaeus, Eleazar and St. Elizabeth. We can thank the Lord for continually coming to save us, no matter how far we\u2019ve sunk, and no matter how many times we\u2019ve fallen, for calling us by name, and for inviting himself literally inside of us to abide in us and have us abide in him. We can thank him in advance as well for the graces he\u2019ll give us so that we can with him climb whatever sycamores or redwoods we have to in order to see him more clearly. But most of all we can thank him for going one step further. When we and the whole human race were incapable of seeing him on account of the great weight of sin which was reducing our humanity to smaller and smaller images of what we are called to be, and thereby when we were incapable of climbing any tree at all, he, out of his great love for us, climbed one on our behalf, so that each of us, dying and wailing like the serpent-bit Jews in the desert, might still be able to see him, perched upon his glorious wooden throne. He invites each of us here and now in this Eucharistic participation in his death and resurrection, to be lifted up by him onto that life-giving tree. Today, with Zacchaeus, with Eleazar, with St. Elizabeth of Hungary, let us pick up that Cross \u2014 our cross! \u2014 and thereby be picked up by it, so that as God\u2019s children we might spend eternity in that celestial tree house built upon the Cross\u2019 firm foundation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>The readings for today&#8217;s Mass were:<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"bibleReadingsWrapper\">\n<h4>Reading 1\u00a0<a id=\"\/bible\/2maccabees\/6:18|\" href=\"http:\/\/usccb.us8.list-manage1.com\/track\/click?u=b927174dbe854683d4b527f98&amp;id=9b4dc7d2f7&amp;e=b55e3798ee\">2 Mc 6:18-31<\/a><\/h4>\n<div class=\"poetry\">Eleazar, one of the foremost scribes,<br \/>\na man of advanced age and noble appearance,<br \/>\nwas being forced to open his mouth to eat pork.<br \/>\nBut preferring a glorious death to a life of defilement,<br \/>\nhe spat out the meat,<br \/>\nand went forward of his own accord to the instrument of torture,<br \/>\nas people ought to do who have the courage to reject the food<br \/>\nwhich it is unlawful to taste even for love of life.<br \/>\nThose in charge of that unlawful ritual meal took the man aside privately,<br \/>\nbecause of their long acquaintance with him,<br \/>\nand urged him to bring meat of his own providing,<br \/>\nsuch as he could legitimately eat,<br \/>\nand to pretend to be eating some of the meat of the sacrifice<br \/>\nprescribed by the king;<br \/>\nin this way he would escape the death penalty,<br \/>\nand be treated kindly because of their old friendship with him.<br \/>\nBut Eleazar made up his mind in a noble manner,<br \/>\nworthy of his years, the dignity of his advanced age,<br \/>\nthe merited distinction of his gray hair,<br \/>\nand of the admirable life he had lived from childhood;<br \/>\nand so he declared that above all<br \/>\nhe would be loyal to the holy laws given by God.He told them to send him at once<br \/>\nto the abode of the dead, explaining:<br \/>\n\u201cAt our age it would be unbecoming to make such a pretense;<br \/>\nmany young people would think the ninety-year-old Eleazar<br \/>\nhad gone over to an alien religion.<br \/>\nShould I thus pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life,<br \/>\nthey would be led astray by me,<br \/>\nwhile I would bring shame and dishonor on my old age.<br \/>\nEven if, for the time being, I avoid the punishment of men,<br \/>\nI shall never, whether alive or dead,<br \/>\nescape the hands of the Almighty.<br \/>\nTherefore, by manfully giving up my life now,<br \/>\nI will prove myself worthy of my old age,<br \/>\nand I will leave to the young a noble example<br \/>\nof how to die willingly and generously<br \/>\nfor the revered and holy laws.\u201dEleazar spoke thus,<br \/>\nand went immediately to the instrument of torture.<br \/>\nThose who shortly before had been kindly disposed,<br \/>\nnow became hostile toward him because what he had said<br \/>\nseemed to them utter madness.<br \/>\nWhen he was about to die under the blows,<br \/>\nhe groaned and said:<br \/>\n\u201cThe Lord in his holy knowledge knows full well that,<br \/>\nalthough I could have escaped death,<br \/>\nI am not only enduring terrible pain in my body from this scourging,<br \/>\nbut also suffering it with joy in my soul<br \/>\nbecause of my devotion to him.\u201d<br \/>\nThis is how he died,<br \/>\nleaving in his death a model of courage<br \/>\nand an unforgettable example of virtue<br \/>\nnot only for the young but for the whole nation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bibleReadingsWrapper\">\n<h4>Responsorial Psalm\u00a0<a id=\"\/bible\/psalms\/3:2|\" href=\"http:\/\/usccb.us8.list-manage1.com\/track\/click?u=b927174dbe854683d4b527f98&amp;id=a302f6db3a&amp;e=b55e3798ee\">PS 3:2-3, 4-5, 6-7<\/a><\/h4>\n<div class=\"poetry\">R. (6b)\u00a0<strong>The Lord upholds me.<\/strong><br \/>\nO LORD, how many are my adversaries!<br \/>\nMany rise up against me!<br \/>\nMany are saying of me,<br \/>\n\u201cThere is no salvation for him in God.\u201d<br \/>\nR.\u00a0<strong>The Lord upholds me.<\/strong><br \/>\nBut you, O LORD, are my shield;<br \/>\nmy glory, you lift up my head!<br \/>\nWhen I call out to the LORD,<br \/>\nhe answers me from his holy mountain.<br \/>\nR.\u00a0<strong>The Lord upholds me.<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen I lie down in sleep,<br \/>\nI wake again, for the LORD sustains me.<br \/>\nI fear not the myriads of people<br \/>\narrayed against me on every side.<br \/>\nR.\u00a0<strong>The Lord upholds me.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4>Alleluia\u00a0<a id=\"\/bible\/1john\/4:10|\" href=\"http:\/\/usccb.us8.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=b927174dbe854683d4b527f98&amp;id=84ad745d81&amp;e=b55e3798ee\">1 Jn 4:10b<\/a><\/h4>\n<p>R.\u00a0<strong>Alleluia, alleluia.<\/strong><br \/>\nGod loved us, and sent his Son<br \/>\nas expiation for our sins.<br \/>\nR.\u00a0<strong>Alleluia, alleluia.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bibleReadingsWrapper\">\n<h4>Gospel\u00a0<a id=\"\/bible\/luke\/19:1|\" href=\"http:\/\/usccb.us8.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=b927174dbe854683d4b527f98&amp;id=5487b37b6d&amp;e=b55e3798ee\">Lk 19:1-10<\/a><\/h4>\n<div class=\"poetry\">At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.<br \/>\nNow a man there named Zacchaeus,<br \/>\nwho was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,<br \/>\nwas seeking to see who Jesus was;<br \/>\nbut he could not see him because of the crowd,<br \/>\nfor he was short in stature.<br \/>\nSo he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,<br \/>\nwho was about to pass that way.<br \/>\nWhen he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,<br \/>\n\u201cZacchaeus, come down quickly,<br \/>\nfor today I must stay at your house.\u201d<br \/>\nAnd he came down quickly and received him with joy.<br \/>\nWhen they saw this, they began to grumble, saying,<br \/>\n\u201cHe has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.\u201d<br \/>\nBut Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,<br \/>\n\u201cBehold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,<br \/>\nand if I have extorted anything from anyone<br \/>\nI shall repay it four times over.\u201d<br \/>\nAnd Jesus said to him,<br \/>\n\u201cToday salvation has come to this house<br \/>\nbecause this man too is a descendant of Abraham.<br \/>\nFor the Son of Man has come to seek<br \/>\nand to save what was lost.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"poetry\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"poetry\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"poetry\">\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/2685zacchaeuspa_00000001894.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-10309\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/2685zacchaeuspa_00000001894.jpg?resize=300%2C198&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"2685zacchaeuspa_00000001894\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/2685zacchaeuspa_00000001894.jpg?resize=300%2C198&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/2685zacchaeuspa_00000001894.jpg?w=575&amp;ssl=1 575w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fr. Roger J. Landry Visitation Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan Tuesday of the 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary November 17, 2015 2 Mc 6:18-31, Ps 3, Lk 19:1-10 &nbsp; To listen to an audio recording of today&#8217;s homily, please click below:\u00a0 &nbsp; The following points [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7414,1063,3,5],"tags":[9079,1795,3301,158,3798,4538,9080,7240,3229,6404,3303],"class_list":["post-10305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2014-2015-year-i","category-audio-homily","category-homily","category-year-i","tag-2-mc-618-31","tag-cross","tag-eleazar","tag-lk-191-10","tag-obstacles","tag-ps-3","tag-seek-and-save-what-was-lost","tag-st-elizabeth-of-hungary","tag-tax-collector","tag-tree-of-life","tag-zacchaeus"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Overcoming Obstacles to Keep Our Eyes on God, 33rd Tuesday (I), November 17, 2015 - Catholic Preaching<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/overcoming-obstacles-to-keep-our-eyes-on-god-33rd-tuesday-i-november-17-2015\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Overcoming Obstacles to Keep Our Eyes on God, 33rd Tuesday (I), November 17, 2015 - Catholic Preaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fr. Roger J. Landry Visitation Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan Tuesday of the 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary November 17, 2015 2 Mc 6:18-31, Ps 3, Lk 19:1-10 &nbsp; To listen to an audio recording of today&#8217;s homily, please click below:\u00a0 &nbsp; The following points [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/overcoming-obstacles-to-keep-our-eyes-on-god-33rd-tuesday-i-november-17-2015\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic Preaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-17T13:34:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-11-17T16:47:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/2685zacchaeuspa_00000001894-300x198.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. 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