31st Sunday C and All Saints 2007

Last Thursday we venerated All God’s saints. Saint have come from all walks of life and come in all shapes and sizes. But what they all have in common is that they have all accepted the teachings of Christ into their lives to an extra ordinary degree. Two of the best known and loved saints of recent times are surely Mother Teresa and Padre Pio. Mother Teresa saw the living Christ in the poor, the lonely and the dying and she loved and helped them. Padre Pio carried and suffered the wounds of the crucified Christ most of his life, and shared the powerful presence of God with millions of people. There are many saints among us. People whose names will not be read out in churches but who lead their lives in close conformity to the teachings of Christ. St Therese of Lisieux encouraged us to believe that all of us are within reach of our sainthood.

The Gospel reading for this Sunday is about a saint to be, Zaccheus, latter known as St Matthew the evangelist. The story of Zaccheus is a story of conversion. He was a corrupt official, a tax collector, serving the Roman occupiers’ and his own interests. He probably thought of himself as a smart man who grabbed the opportunities life offered him, whereas the poor were stupid and deserved to be poor. His loyalties were to himself.

When Jesus came into his home his opinion of himself and his perception of the world around him changed. He suddenly felt concern for the poor. He saw himself as a man in possession of too much wealth compared with so many poor people around. He admitted that his cheating people had been wrong and resolved to try and make good the damage he had done. He had a conversion of life. Many of us have had conversion experiences. There was a time when we began to feel that the Gospel message was truly for us. It seemed acceptable - at least in part - and we could relate to it. We made changes in our lifestyle, we gave up certain habits and began to acquire new ones, better ones.

Conversion is not a once in a lifetime event for most of us but an ongoing process. One major conversion is followed by many smaller ones over many years. We accept more and more of the teachings of Christ into our lives. We accept the title of disciples of Christ. The more we share and work with others to enjoy and develop our lives as disciples the more we are living as a Community of disciples.