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Greetings, SBT Readers!
I hope you enjoy the "slice of Maltese life" in the excerpt from The Day the Fireworks Died. You will find details about this book and about Carmel G. Cauchi's Maltese adaptation on my website. Like the story of Zacchaeus, this parable focuses on conversion and on claiming one's rightful name. I should add that San Gorg is a very popular saint in the Maltese islands and that he is the patron of several villages...
I return to the States next weekend, so there won't be an issue of SBT for November 6th. All being well, I will resume publication the following week!
Many Blessings!
Elizabeth
PS I didn't have a photo of a sycamore tree but I thought the pomegranate tree would work instead!
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Link to the Sunday Readings
At that time, Jesus arrived in Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now there was a man there named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, who was seeking to see who Jesus was, but could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. Running ahead, he climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. Reaching the place, Jesus looked up and said,
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."
Zacchaeus came down at once and received him with joy. When they saw this, the people began to grumble, saying,
"He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner."
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over."
Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost."
Lk 19:1-10
As a child, I was a tree climber. We had a fig tree that, judging from its girth, must have seen several centuries; perhaps it was two trees that had fused into one as it bore two crops of figs each year, once in June and then in late summer. Braving ants and wasps, I would clamber from branch to branch, bowl in hand, plucking the ripe fruit as I ascended. My motivation, of course, was the figs -- fresh fruit for the table and thick jam for tea. The sweetness summoned me, and I was oblivious to the scrapes and scratches along the way.
Remembering our fig tree, I wonder what sweetness motivated Zacchaeus-- and what sweetness was missing from his life. For him to hoist himself into a sycamore tree while being encumbered by his robes would have been no easy feat. Moreover, tree climbing was hardly a dignified activity for an adult, especially for someone whose neighbors already regarded him as the scum of the earth -- as someone whose collaboration with Rome and dishonest practices put him on a par with murderers, robbers and the like and would have barred him from the synagogue, from changing money at the Temple treasury, and from serving as a witness in court. There is little doubt that Zacchaeus was hated in Jericho.
Perhaps the experience of being ostracized within his own community, despised by his own family, was what drew Zacchaeus to that sycamore tree. He had money and clout but little else -- and maybe he loathed himself for his treachery and nefarious practices. Perhaps he wondered what an itinerant preacher/ miracle worker would have to say to him, a public sinner, if anything at all. Perhaps he held on to a tiny bit of hope that he would hear a word of encouragement, or some teaching that would sweeten his life. The very act of climbing the sycamore tree indicated that he was ready for something new.
He got more than he bargained for. Drawn by curiosity, Zacchaeus made the effort to see Jesus and Jesus, in turn, saw him. In that mutual seeing, the humble sycamore tree became the Tree of Life, the place where new vision was possible and a new beginning could unfold. From the vantage point of that tree, Zacchaeus heard his name -- translated as "Pure One"-- uttered with love instead of mockery, perhaps for the first time in decades. "Zacchaeus, Pure One, Innocent One, come down from this tree..."
And down he came, filled with joy and disbelief. In the presence of the Holy One, he experienced the invitation to turn his life around -- not necessarily to walk away from a hated profession but to right past wrongs and move forward with integrity. Standing before Jesus, he took back his name, claiming all that it represented. Salvation had indeed come to his house.
Zacchaeus symbolizes all of humanity. As the poet William Wordsworth points out, "And not in utter nakedness,/
But trailing clouds of glory do we come/ From God, who is our home." But while "heaven lies about us in our infancy," we soon become disconnected from those glorious clouds, our lives being sullied by all the negative influences we encounter as we grow -- lies, greed, fear, competitiveness, judgementalism and the whole array of deadly sins. Like Zacchaeus, we take on personae that are inconsistent with our true identity as humans made in the image and likeness of God. Instead, we hide behind our masks, forgetting who we truly are.
The Good News is that God continues to call each of us by name, no matter how far we have strayed. We need neither fig trees nor sycamore trees to hear God's voice, but just the desire to taste the Divine Sweetness. And that, my friends, is an ongoing call...
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QUESTIONS
FOR REFLECTION
* What is the name by which God calls you and why is this important?
* What is the sweetness that is missing from YOUR life and what sweetness do YOU desire?
* What have been the negative influences that have worked against your living the life you want to lead?
* What can YOU see from the vantage point of the sycamore tree?
RESOURCES
Try my Spiritual Self-Assessment Tool! After you take the Quiz, you will automatically receive a computer-generated analysis of your strengths and "growing edges." https://assess.coach/eastewart/
Please note that I offer
Writing Coaching/ Editing, Life Coaching, Spiritual Direction, and Retreats.
www.elizabeth-annestewart.com; www.ChicagoWritingCoach.com
Pray that
sanity will prevail and that all those suffering on account of the terrible conflict in Ukraine will find the comfort and resources they need.
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