Saint Augustine’s assertion, “Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in you”, succinctly describes the situation in which Zacchaeus found himself. His heart yearned for something more genuine, permanent and secure than the wealth he had amassed. He yearned for true peace. Unfortunately, his propensity towards wealth, which made it difficult for him to see God in his neighbor, whom he easily defrauded, made it likewise difficult for him to see Christ, the source of his salvation. Zacchaeus’ dilemma was compounded by the larger-than-life religious piety of his Jewish brothers who were unanimous in their belief that tax collectors cannot be saved due to their inclination to corrupt practices. Thus he was secluded and left to die in his own sinfulness.

Like Zacchaeus, many may pursue respect, wealth, profession, beauty, power, etc, as if getting them will bring happiness and peace. Unfortunately, they don’t. The more one thinks one is possessing most of these material items, the more one is possessed by them. It takes the grace of personal encounter with Christ for one to break out of that vicious cycle. For Zacchaeus, it meant climbing a sycamore tree, to see beyond the exclusionist religious piety of his Jewish contemporaries and the materialistic bent of his consumerist heart, in order to gaze into the face of Christ; the face of a loving, welcoming and forgiving God.

Interestingly, Jesus never preached to Zacchaeus; he only overwhelmed him with a first hand experience of God’s loving forgiveness. For, as the responsorial psalm points out “The Lord is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in love…The Lord supports all who fall and raises all who are bowed down”. Zacchaeus could not but respond in love, for, true love begets love; “Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody, I will pay him back four times the amount”. And then Zacchaeus found his peace; for at last salvation had come to his house.

This week, we are invited to make an effort to climb beyond any obstacle that may prevent us from seeing the face of a loving, welcoming and forgiving God. It is only when we realize that we are sinners who are loved and forgiven, that we can be agents of love and forgiveness in our world.