The door of the confessional is the door to the heart of Jesus. Sunday Reflections, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Woman Holding a Balance

Johannes Vermeer [Web Gallery of Art]

Because the whole world before you is like a speck that tips the scales (Wisdom 11:22; First Reading).

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 19:1-10 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Léachtaí i nGaeilge 

Zacchaeus

Niels Larsen Stevns [Wikipedia; photo]

Fr James Moynihan was a Columban from New Zealand who died in the Philippines in 1992 at the age of 68. During World War II he served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Army. What Jesus said about Nathanael, could be said about Father Jim: he truly was a person in whom is no guile! (John 1:47). In his latter years he spent many hours each day in the confessional in Cagayan de Oro Cathedral. Many came from far and near to confess to him and receive absolution from God himself through Father Jim's priesthood.

In those days the main means of rapid communication in the Philippines was the telegram. Someone who knew Father Jim was filing a telegram with a message of condolence to the Columbans. The clerk, a young man with a ponytail, asked, 'Is that the priest who was always hearing confessions in the cathedral?' When told that it was he asked where the wake was. As soon as the transaction was finished he left the office and went on his motorcycle to pay his respects. Clearly, he had experienced God's forgiveness through the ministry of this priest from New Zealand in the convessional.

Fr James Moynihan

Two other Columbans continued Father Jim's work in the confessional in the cathedral of Cagayan de Oro. One was Fr Frank Chapman, an Australian, who heard confessions in the cathedral for hours almost every day up to a few weeks before his death in 2004 at the age of 91. The other was Fr John Meaney from Ireland who died in 2006 at the age of 86 after having spent 58 years in Mindanao. These three priests are buried in Cagayan de Oro.

People came from all over to confess their sins to these priests who made themselves so available to bring to them the mercy that Jesus showed to Zacchaeus.

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel are the first words of Jesus in St Mark's Gospel (1:15). The sacrament of confession, sometimes referred to as penance and the sacrament of reconciliation. Whatever name we give it, it is the beautiful means that Jesus left the Church to enable us to be in full Communion with Our Lord and with his Church when we cut ourselves off from him through mortal sin, that is sin involving grave matter of which we are fully aware and to which we give full consent. But regular confession is also a great help when we struggle with venial sins, which don't cut us off from God. But even when we deliberately cut ourselves off from God's love he is still watching for ways to bring us back to him, as Jesus was when he spotted Zacchaeus in the tree, as the father was constantly watching out for his son who had abandoned him for a life of sin in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Jesus wants to say to each of us what he said to Zacchaeus: Today salvation has come to this house . . . For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

When we acknowledge our sins we open the door to Jesus and to his merciful forgiveness. And the door of the confessional is the door to the heart of Jesus.

Traditional Latin Mass

Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 10-30-2022 if necessary).

Epistle: Colossians 1:12-20. Gospel: John 18:33-37.

Christ Before Pilate

Mihály Munkácsy [Web Gallery of Art]