Presents and Presence

Gospel: John 1: 1-18

At Christmas we give and receive gifts.  We take joy both in receiving gifts and in the joy of others when they too receive a gift.  There is great sorrow when a gift is given and rejected by another.  In today's Gospel reading we see both this joy and sorrow at the gift of Jesus given to the world: the sorrow of those who rejected his presence, and the joy of those who receive the gift and through it become children of God and heirs of heaven.

Jesus came to dwell among us.  He went about from place to place healing people of their infirmities, liberating them from the demons that oppress them, and nourishing them at table.  He ate with sinners, those who were his opponents, even those who would deny and betray him.  He rejected violence, ordering his followers to put away the sword, and rebuking those who would call down fire upon a town that rejected them.  We are simply to depart and shake the dust from our feet when rejected by one town.

For all this we executed Jesus in the most cruel way known to humanity.  We rejected his present and sought to blot out his presence.  Yet, both his presence and the present he offers remains.  We still have the ability to become children of God by following his example in our lives.  For it is to the peacemakers that the title children of God is given, and it is to the ministry of peace and reconciliation that we are called as followers of the Lord Jesus.  Today is a day to accept his presents and his presence. 

A Widow's Witness

Gospel: Luke 2: 36-40

We began Luke's Gospel with the stories of Elizabeth and Mary, two women who play pivotal roles in the drama of salvation history by accepting the roles offered to them in being the mother of John the Baptist and Jesus respectively.  They did so in spite of the skepticism of the men in their lives and the social difficulties that may arise with such undertakings.  Today we have a bookend at the end of the infancy stories with the arrival of Anna the prophetess. 

Anna is a remarkable woman.  She was married only seven years before her husband died, at which point she spent the remainder of her years a widow, constantly in the Temple area fasting and praying.  She likely sought the support of others here as well, picking up odd jobs and receiving alms as it seems clear she had no sons or family to support her.  She, like Simeon and others, await the coming Messiah, and she is rewarded by actually being one of the first to meet him as an infant.

Anna completes the bookend of women who form the core of the earthly origins of Jesus' life.  She forms a second sort of bookend, being the last in a line of marginalized people to whom the Messiah comes - Mary, a simple village woman; the shepherds; the Magi; and now a widow.  Jesus' mission to the poor, lowly, outcast, and marginalized all find foreshadowing in his infancy.  It is a mission to which we are called each day as his followers. 

Seeing the Salvation

Gospel: Luke 2: 22-35

At the end of each day the Church has in her official prayer this song of Simeon that forms the core of our Gospel text today.  Simeon was an old man who waited for the coming of the Lord in his life.  He sat day and night in the Temple awaiting this coming, and when it finally arrived Simeon gave thanks, and stated that he was now ready to depart this mortal coil, for all that he waited for had come to him and he is now truly at peace.

We might well consider in our own life to incorporate this prayer at the end of our days and reflect each day on the various ways the Lord has come to us, where we have encountered God in the midst of the world.  It is well for us to give thanks for those moments.  At the same time, this Gospel scene has Mary come to the Temple in order to give thanks for the birth of her child, providing the offering of the poor as a thanksgiving sacrifice for the privilege of bearing God to the world.

We too have the opportunity each day to bring forth God to the world through acts of love and mercy, of compassion and kindness.  Each day we have the opportunity to reflect on the ways that we have - and have not - done so in our daily living.  We then have the opportunity to cleanse ourselves in repentance for those times we failed, and also to give thanks for the times we did succeed in bringing God to others in deeds of loving kindness. 

Our Holy Families

Gospel: Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23

This feast presents us with more challenges than answers in our quest for holiness and wholeness in our lives.  We have overlaid the person of Mary with so many divine privileges that she no longer relates to ordinary human experience for many people.  And we have so overemphasized the divinity of Jesus that we no longer relate very much to his humanity.  The idea we have of the Holy Family is such that we cannot relate or possibly achieve that unrealistic ideal that dominates iconography.  

We overlook the fact that so little has been recorded of the life of this family both in the canonical scriptures and in the Gnostic Gospels that we come to invent our own ideas about its inner workings.  Yet, today's Gospel gives us enough to speak of holiness for them and for ourselves.  Joseph, Mary, and Jesus faced tremendous dangers and risks and perils.  Yet, they continually remained open to the promptings of God in their life to lead them to places of refuge and safety.

This openness is our key to holiness in our families as well.  We face innumerable struggles in our various family units - biological families, families of faith.  Families come in all shapes, sizes, and constituencies.  Each face their own unique challenges.  The example of the Holy Family here is that if we are continually open to the movements of God within us, we can navigate our challenges, finding refuge along the way as we journey together to the reign of God.  This is the key to being a holy family in our own lives.

The Final Refuge

Gospel: John 20: 1-18

Throughout Advent and the beginning of the Christmas season we have been reading about the constant seeking of refuge from oppression, bondage, and death.  The prophets longed to see the day of the Messiah that would liberate Israel from these things.  In the story of Mary and Joseph we find this constant threat of woe and death hanging over them, but each time they are led by God to various places of refuge and safety.

Today in this feast during the octave of Christmas, we are led to find the ultimate refuge, the empty tomb of Jesus and his resurrection from the dead.  Even in his public life Jesus had avoided death at various points, but ultimately he came face to face with the ultimate fear of humans in the most cruel way possible.  Jesus' death was certain - no one survived crucifixion, and all the times of refuge that led to hope of a happy ending seemed dashed at his death until we encounter him risen from the dead.

In baptism each one of us is washed clean of sin, adopted as a child of God, and is promised a future resurrection on the last day.  We ourselves may grow weary seeking constant refuge in this world that seeks to destroy us.  We too seek to escape death itself, though it is certain that we will face her one day.  Yet, having this promise of ultimate refuge is comforting as we make our way through the desert of life to the reign of God.

From Straw to Stones

Gospel: Matthew 10: 17-22

Now that suburban Christmas is over, the days of the Christmas season begin in earnest with a string of feast days celebrating martyrs.  To those paying attention to the actual Christmas story, this string of feasts is not a radical departure but a fundamental continuation of the Christmas story.  That Jesus and his parents suffered homelessness and rejection, the hardship of being a refugee to escape death at the hands of Herod and his religious cronies portends our life as followers of Jesus.

The life of the one who genuinely seeks to follow the Lord Jesus is one of homelessness and constantly seeking refuge and safety in a world that rejects the message of love and peace.  The powers of the world will ever reject such a message, for power and wealth are had by division, warfare, and the exploitation of others.  To reject that path of the world is to embrace the way from the crib to the cross, a fragile existence in a world that ultimately is not our home.

During the octave of Christmas we reflect on this journey of Jesus' first days on earth that looked ahead to his entire life journey to the cross.  We reflect on our own journey as disciples of the Lord Jesus.  If we identify with the homeless and with refugees in our world as Jesus did, we are following the authentic path of the Christian life. For the one who was himself homeless and a refugee came to spend his life in caring for the poor and marginalized, making that the ultimate test of judgment.   

The Mission to Misfits

Gospel: Luke 2: 15-20

The mission of Jesus from the very beginning is directed to the poor, the outcast, the foreigner, and the outsider.  Consider the manger scenes in our homes and churches.  Mary and Joseph themselves are outcasts, finding no place of shelter in what is supposed to be their place of origin.  Jesus will instead be born on the margins in a lowly stable out in the elements.  The infant and his parents find themselves temporarily homeless, soon to be refugees fleeing to another land.

Next on the scene are the shepherds, once a noble profession but now regarded as dirty, unclean, ignorant people who now exist on the margins of society.  They come to the nativity scene at the invitation of an angel.  Similarly, the mysterious Magi from another land find themselves led by a star to the manger, offering their gifts to the long awaited Messiah and his parents.  The entire scene is composed of outsiders, marginalized, and rejected people - the very ones to whom Jesus will minister and care for in his adult life.

While all this is happening, the engines of institutional religion and state power conspire to put Jesus to death from the very beginning.  They are outwitted by the misfits who are continually led by divine direction to safe harbors until the danger has passed.  If we are looking for the authentic path of religion in our life, let us look to identify with the misfits and outcasts, finding guidance from a star and our dreams to places of sanctuary as we make our way to the reign of God.  That is the message of Christmas.   

A Ransom Note

Gospel: Luke 1: 67-79

The mission of God on earth is ransom and mercy.  God has come among his people to bring liberation in the fullest sense possible: material liberation from all oppression; spiritual liberation from sin and vice; psychological liberation from the demons that possess us; intellectual liberation from error and falsehood.  This liberation comes in the person of Jesus who teaches us and shows us how we are to live a life of love and mercy in the world.

This liberation comes not as some magical metaphysical gift.  It comes in following the way of the Lord Jesus.  The Lord Jesus is the gift to be received by living as he taught us and how he lived.  In receiving the mercy of God we are to express our gratitude to God for this mercy by extending love and mercy ourselves - to be that love and mercy of God in the way that Jesus and others have been for us in our lives.  

The gift of Christmas is the gift of ransom, the gift of mercy expressed in the life and person of Jesus.  The task of Christmas and of each day in our life is to give that gift of mercy to everyone we meet.  Then, and only then, will the gift of ransom and liberation come to the whole world.  That gift is not magic.  It is one we have to keep giving each and every day to all the people of the world, inviting them to give that gift in like manner.   

Persistent Faith

Gospel: Luke 1: 57-66

Consider the irony of today's Gospel scene.  People gather at the home of Zechariah for the circumcision of his son born eight days earlier.  Zechariah has been mute for months, unable to speak because of his lack of faith in the angel's message to him.  It come to the point in the program when the child is to be named.  Elizabeth states his name will be John.  Despite protests from family and friends, she continues to insist that John will be his name, in obedience to the angel who gave the name to her.

Of course the crowd cannot possibly believe the woman, so they turn to Zechariah, the one who had not believed, in order to see if he would overrule his wife.  To his credit, Zechariah supports Elizabeth and obeys the angel's command this time, whereupon the curse of muteness is lifted from him.  However, if it had not been for the fact that Elizabeth persisted in her determination to obey the angel and name their child John, the entire arc of the story would not have transpired as it did.

The entire Christmas story does not take place without the faith of two women, Elizabeth and Mary.  Their determination to maintain this unlikely faith in spite of opposition and severe hardship is the bedrock of our faith tradition.  The menfolk - Zechariah and Joseph - require continued interventions in order for them to confirm the faith of these women who persisted with great strength and virtue, bringing forth Christ in the world. 

Unrealized Expectations

Gospel: Luke 1: 46-56

Mary's Magnificat encapsulates all the longings and expectations of Israel regarding the coming Messiah.  The humbling of the powerful, the defense of the powerless, the overturning of the rich, the providing for the poor, the end of war and the reign of peace - all these Mary lifts up in this prayer, all these were the longings of a people expressed in their prophets and wisdom literature for generations.  Now we are on the threshold of that promise in the coming of Jesus.

Yet, when we look around we find the wars continue unabated.  The rich continue unabated in their exploitation of the poor, and the powerful ceaselessly abuse the weak and marginalized.   If the Messiah has come, why have the promises attached to that coming not been realized? We quickly turn the state of the world into an esoteric theological problem, and we hastily assert that these promises will come at the second coming, in a vain attempt to save face.

The face we seek to save is our own.  We created a religion and institution rather than actually follow Jesus as he asked.  We invented vicarious rituals around Jesus rather than heed his call to do the works of mercy to others.  Had we actually followed the Messiah in his example, these promises would indeed be realized on earth, for the promises are not magic.  The promises are realized in a person who embodies them and who calls us to embody them as well in our deeds on earth.  May that embodiment be our aim in the remainder of Advent and throughout our lives. 

The Arc of Mercy

Gospel:  Matthew 1: 18-24

Joseph discovers Mary is pregnant; he knows not how save that he is not the father.  Strict adherence to Jewish law would dictate that Mary was to be stoned to death for adultery.  That outcome would be to expose her to the law in its fullest.  However, such public executions were rare, though not unheard of.  Most adopted the approach Joseph intended to take in this case.  He would divorce Mary quietly and not expose her to the law.

Joseph's approach has an element of mercy to it.  Mary and her child would be spared and would live.  However, their existence on earth would be a marginal one.  Mary would have difficulty finding someone to marry.  She could gain work here and there enabling she and her child to survive, but they would not have the full protection of the law.  They would be regarded negatively in society, living on the peripheries of society.

But along comes the fulness of God's mercy.  Joseph will take Mary as his wife and claim the child as his own.  In this way they would have the full benefit of the law in their society.  They would have a secure existence.  The Christmas story is the first installment of the Gospel's entire lesson on the arc of God's mercy in the world, a mercy we ourselves are to embody in our care for others, in the communities we seek to create.  The Christian faith is not about harsh law and capital punishment.  It is about finding the fullest way of mercy possible. 

Feminine Icon

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

In yesterday's Gospel we saw the disbelief of the priest Zechariah in full display.  Because of his disbelief he is made mute and the miraculous event will occur anyway.  Today we see in deliberate contrast to Zechariah the faith of a simple village woman.  Mary is visited by the same angel who announces an even more remarkable miracle to come.  Mary believes and accepts the miracle, bringing forth Jesus into the world for the benefit of all.

Mary's role becomes the role of every Christian and of the whole Church thereafter.  It is to say yes to God and to bring Christ forth into the world by our deeds of love and mercy to others.  That an entire theology of sacramental exclusion has existed for so long arguing women cannot bring forth Christ into the world sacramentally is entirely at odds with this opening chapter of Luke's Gospel.  This mission is fundamental to the whole body of Christ.

The entire Christmas Gospels are about women who accept the message and mission from God to bring Christ into the world, while the men of the story are silent in their doubts.  Our task in the final days of Advent are to emulate the faith and mission of the women, to accept the call of God and bring the Lord Jesus into the world through our selfless deeds of love and mercy for others.   

Miracle Unawares

Gospel: Luke 1: 5-25

We would think that if anyone were to recognize a vision and a miraculous event it would be a priest in the midst of Temple worship.  And yet in today's story Zechariah does not recognize the vision and does not accept the message given to him by the angel.  Even more startling is the fact that the coming miraculous event is one that is not unknown in the religious tradition within which Zechariah serves as a priest.  So he is rendered mute for his unbelief.

Before we become too severe on Zechariah consider the fact that each day we find divine wonders all around us, and we are both unaware of their existence and even in denial of them.  We see the wonders of creation and yet abuse the environment with reckless abandon.  We claim belief in the idea that all persons are made in God's image and yet we regard and treat many with abuse and neglect, classifying them in man-made categories of demeaning language.  

Yet the message of today's story is that a miracle is not dependent upon our belief for it to take place.  Zechariah did not believe the angel's message, and yet the miracle of John's conception and birth would take place.  Whether we accept it or not, our created world is a miraculous gift to us, and all people are children of God made in his image.  Advent is for us to recover our belief in these things and to act differently in our lives, for Christ is born among us each day in creation and in other people. 

Mercy Over Law

Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-25

The story of Jesus' birth can be seen from many different perspectives.  Joseph discovers - we know not how - that Mary his wife to be is pregnant with child.  Immediately we are faced with the harsh law of the day.  Mary could be exposed to the full weight of the law, and she could face death for adultery, as Joseph is not the father of the child.  This is but one of the possible outcomes Mary faces, and it is within Joseph's power to do so.

Joseph, however, takes a less severe approach.  He decides to divorce Mary quietly and not expose her to the full weight of the law.  In this scenario, Mary and her child would have their lives spared and be allowed to live in some marginal existence on the peripheries.  Mary and child would be seen as outcasts, but could still eke out a living doing menial work and tasks for others.  There may even be some compassionate folks who take pity on them and help even more.  

Yet, Joseph is inspired in a dream to do the truly remarkable and merciful thing: to take Mary as his wife and accept the child as his own.  Mary and child now have the full protection of law both religious and civil.  From the very first Gospel story the entire life and mission of Jesus is one of mercy, not law.  It is about finding ways to reconcile what has been alienated, to bring all people together into the one family of God.   

We Are Family

Gospel:  Matthew 1: 1-17

Human beings have always been fascinated by their origins and family trees.  Great myths like the Aeneid tell of the origins of the Romans.  In our own times we have advanced scientific methods to search out our ancestry from long ago with DNA.  What are we looking for in such searches?  Do we hope to find that we are related to royalty and greatness? Will any of it help us to understand who we are and what we hope to accomplish in life?

Today's Gospel relates the ancestry of Jesus, and no doubt he has quite a few famous people in his ancestral lineage.  Yet, Jesus never ever references it in his life and ministry.  Some of those famous people were indeed well regarded in his culture, and yet even they had great sins and faults in addition to their great accomplishments.  David is but one example on the list. Many others in this tree of Jesus' human origins are lesser known, and some even outright scoundrels.

If we look into our own ancestry we will likely come to the same results.  We might find a great person in our lineage, but we may realize that person comes with lots of faults as well.  Most of our ancestry are little known people and even a few scoundrels.  What matters, though, is our connection to the Lord Jesus our brother.  He overcame the darkness of his human past to do great things and live a life others want to emulate.  In imitation of him we seek to do the same thing in our lives in our time and in our place by extending love and mercy to all as Jesus did.  

The Work of Religion

Gospel: Matthew 21: 28-32

Jesus poses the question of which son did what their father wanted.  It was not the son who said that he would but then did not.  It was the son who said that he would not, but then regretted it and did what was asked of him.  We might very well ask the question of what it is that is asked of the two sons.  What, in fact, is the will of God that we are asked to do in our lives?  What is the fundamental and primary work of religion in the world?

To a foreign observer the answer to that would be attendance at church services and the giving of money to the church.  That is what most of religion consists of.  Yet a reading of the Gospels does not lead us to those conclusions at all.  To do the will of God is to do the works of mercy as Jesus did.  It is to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, to heal the sick, to free people from their demons, to shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, and welcome the stranger and alien.  

Attending church may help us accomplish these fundamental tasks, but attendance at church itself is not the fundamental task.  Attending church should encourage and support us in this work of mercy that is our fundamental task.  But very often it is akin to the son who gives lip service to the father but does not do what his father asks.  May Advent continue to remind us of the primary work of religion and inspire us in that work each day. 

By What Authority?

Gospel: Matthew 21: 23-27

The religious leaders want to know the authority by which Jesus does and says what he does.  They could not answer the question when it came to John the Baptist, and they are left bewildered time and again at Jesus.  Jesus is careful in his answer.  He does not claim God's authority.  That is risky business, and he does not claim the authority from any of the rabbinic schools either.  He simply leaves the question unanswered, as he does so often.

Jesus went about from town to town healing people, liberating them from their demons, and nourishing them at table.  He taught about the mercy of God and encouraged others to extend mercy to others in their lives.  Jesus saw a need and met it.  His authority was love and mercy, for God is love, and God desires mercy and not sacrifice.  If Jesus were to claim God's authority it would be on those grounds, living in response to the love God extends to the whole world.

If we are to speak of God's authority, it must be done along these lines.  God is love; God desires mercy.  God has extended love and mercy to all people.  To respond to that love and mercy by living in a way that extends love and mercy to others is the authentic life of religion.  It is the only path that can be seen as acting and speaking on God's authority.  God's authority is not a line of succession as worldly rulers have.  God's authority is acting and living love and mercy in the world. 

Living with Doubt

Gospel: Matthew 11: 2-11

John the Baptist is in prison, facing almost certain death.  It is a place where doubt naturally will take place.  In his case, he wonders if Jesus is the actual Messiah.  John needs to be sure that Jesus is the one so that when he dies he can safely entrust his disciples to Jesus.  John's doubt is perfectly understandable.  We need not twist ourselves up into defensive apologetic postures or create plaster saints devoid of humanity who are inaccessible to us.  John had real, legitimate doubt.  As we all do too.

Yet, we have signposts that point to the presence of the Messiah then and now.  The blind now see.  The lame now walk.  The dead are raised.  People are freed from the demons that oppress them.  The hungry are fed.  The thirsty are provided drink.  The naked are clothed.  The homeless are sheltered.  The imprisoned and the outcast are visited and welcomed.  These were the signposts Jesus gave to John's disciples.  These are our signposts today.

When we are looking for the presence of the Lord Jesus in our world today, look to these things.  When we are faced with doubt in our own prisons of confusion and opposition, look for these things in our world.  We will find the presence of the Lord in these activities in the world.  We will bring the presence of Jesus into the world if we set about to do these things for others.  Only in these things will our doubt be erased.   

Problems with Prophecies

Gospel: Matthew 17: 10-13

People in Jesus' day obsessed with the Messianic prophecies perseverated over this second coming of Elijah.  Apparently it already happened and no one knew it! So says Jesus.  The disciples understand him to mean that Elijah came in the person of John the Baptist, though Jesus did not say that.  Prophecy is often what we want it to be in order to suit our own ends.  We often look mistakenly at prophecy as something fatalistic and pre-determined.  Prophecy can be unfulfilled, unrealized, and very often misinterpreted.  

Consider:  all the Messianic prophecies tell us that when this figure comes that great peace will come upon the land.  Enemies will be reconciled, spears will be turned into pruning forks, and all shall be well.  In the Christian understanding the Messiah has come, so where's the peace? The professional apologists are quick to retort: oh, that's meant for the final coming of Jesus.  Or more likely, we were supposed to emulate the peace of the Messiah in our lives, and we failed to do so.  Thus we reinterpret the prophecy to suit us, allowing us to continue with business as usual on earth.  

Another Advent is here and another Christmas cometh.  We will hear the readings of the coming peace of the Messianic age.  We may even hear a sermon or two about it and the peace we should have within us.  And we will go on with the wars and divisions of the world as fast as a New Year's resolution is broken.  If we as individuals, communities, and societies are not willing to imitate the peace of the Messiah, then we are not worthy of it, and the promise is an empty one not because of the One who promised it but because of we who fail to honor it. 

One of Us

Gospel: Luke 1: 39-47

Over the centuries we have made both Jesus and Mary so inaccessible to the ordinary person with the vast layers of theology we have overlaid upon them.  The one who was a carpenter and rabbi who went around healing and liberating people is now a king, prince, emperor figure so far removed from human experience we cannot comprehend him.  And Mary who was by her own admission a lowly handmaid in a poor town is queen, empress, immaculate so distant and aloof from the people from whence she came.

But in today's Gospel and feast we have a woman whose instinct is to go to her people and to be among them.  She goes to her cousin Elizabeth to be of help to her as she prepares to give birth to her child.  In this feast we find Mary coming among her poor ones in a land now dominated by foreign oppression in order to comfort the poor and suffering.  Mary comes to visit a poor boy, not the conquistadors, not the bishop who lives in comfort.  

Jesus did not come to live in palaces and dominate over people.  He came born in a stable on the margins of society.  He grew up in a poor insignificant town, and he went about from town to town being among the poor, the sick, the marginalized providing them with the healing they needed for their infirmities, the liberation they needed from the demons that oppressed them, the food they needed to nourish them in body and spirit.  That is the One we await, the One who lives among us now. 

Mistaken Identity

Gospel: Matthew 11: 11-15

Each Gospel writer addresses in their own muddled way the figure of John the Baptist.  Why does this person command so much interest in their minds?  Throughout the Gospels we find Jesus and his disciples bumping into followers of John the Baptist even after John's death.  Many thought John was the long awaited Messiah, and they clung to him as a salvific figure.  The Gospel writers sought to address that misunderstanding and misreading of salvation history.

Throughout the history of Christianity to our own day we find people focused on other figures over and above that of the Lord Jesus.  Entire cottage industries exist to monitor and comment on the pope's every word and movement.  Televangelists and other Christian media personalities are followed with great fervor.  Even some other person in the pew and their opinion of us seems to rent space for free in the heads of other Christians.  In all of this we are led to ask why?  What do these perseverations of ours mean?

If our sole focus in the Christian life is not about the constant meditation on the person of Jesus and his example and teaching, then we are simply not Christians.  We are middle schoolers chasing the latest idol of the day or fretting about what Jimmy J or Suzie Q think about us.  John the Baptist was an important person, but only to the extent that he points to the person of Jesus.  Once so directed, our focus must be on the Lord alone and following his example and life. 

A Mission of Mercy

Gospel: Matthew 11: 28-30

In today's Gospel portion Jesus declares that his mission to the world is to ease the burden of those who are oppressed and heavy laden, to provide rest for a weary people.  Galilee was a place sorely oppressed by Roman rule.  Most of the population was forced into hard labor for little pay.  They received little consolation from their co-religionists who by and large were mere puppets of the imperial regime.  Revolts and uprisings were fairly common, acts of desperation for a desperate people.

If the mission of Jesus is to provide comfort, rest, and ease of the burden of people, it is somewhat strange to see so many people who boast the title of Christian or Catholic who revel in creating such horrid conditions for human beings around the globe.  They create the conditions of war that create refugees.  They oppress developing nations, creating the conditions for migration and immigration, and yet will not help these poor desperate folks in any way.  Moreover, they revel in punishing those who seek to provide that help.

It is our task as Christians to carry on this mission of Jesus, the mission of mercy to ease burdens, provide rest and care for oppressed peoples, to liberate the downtrodden.  Such work will face opposition from the world and those claiming to be our coreligionists, just as it did for Jesus.  The journey to Bethlehem is one of constant rejection, of being pushed to the peripheries in order to bring Jesus into the world.  It was then, and it is so today.   

Seeking the Lost

Gospel: Matthew 18: 12-14

Jesus asks his followers what they think of this scenario: a shepherd loses a sheep but still has ninety-nine.  What should he do?  Most shepherds would write off that one lost sheep.  It is too great a risk to the larger flock to leave them in order to search for this one.  Their livelihood depends on the wool and milk and other products they produce.  For them the utilitarian calculus is simple: abandon the one for the sake of the larger good.

That is, in fact, what most religious shepherds do as well.  People leave church life and there is no concern at all about it.  In fact, most rejoice at such departures, for now it means they have their small pure church they have desired for so long.  We need not bother ourselves with inconvenient people who challenge us.  Now we can attend to the work of our church without distraction.  Of course this begs the question of just what they think the work of the church actually is...

But Jesus has a different answer.  The shepherd will go in search of that lost sheep, just as the father goes and seeks out his prodigal son.  For that is the work of the church and nothing else.  The work of the church is not empire building, pyramid scheming, or ego boosting.  It is about caring for souls, going out to the peripheries to find those in need of healing those with illnesses, delivering from their demons, and feeding those who are hungry.  

Finding Our Way

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

Today's feast presents us with a number of challenges.  We ourselves are not sinless, so how can we relate to someone who is?  Moreover, how can we reconcile the fact that God provides this privilege to one but not to anyone else?  We find ourselves readily accepting of Jesus because he became one of us and lived among us in poverty and service, showing us the way to live as human beings on earth.  We struggle to make sense of this privilege of Mary.  

While we may not have the privilege of sinlessness, we do have a number of things provided to all people. We have our free will, free to choose the good and to be better than we are.  We have the person and example of Jesus who shows us the way of love in the world.  We have the example of Mary and others who have lived great virtue in their lives.  These things are all at our disposal, and it is enough.  It is sufficient for us to make progress in our lives.

If today's feast teaches us nothing else, it is that we cannot perseverate on what has been given to others.  We can only focus on what has been given to us, and we come to realize that it is quite a lot.  At Christmas we receive gifts, and we note the ingratitude of those who are ungrateful for what we receive and are jealous of what others have been given.  Today we must remember that lesson.  We can celebrate the gift another has been given while being grateful for what we have received as well.

Exaggerated Trailers

Gospel: Matthew 3: 1-12

How often have we seen a trailer for a movie that does not quite reflect the actual movie itself?  In today's Gospel portion we have John the Baptist announcing the coming of the Messiah, and while pieces of his preview are accurate, some of it is a bit exaggerated.  John is expecting harsh judgment from the coming Messiah, especially to the professional religious ruling class.  He is also expecting a full and complete reckoning which apparently will not come until the sequel appears at some unknown date.

Jesus does in fact express harsh judgment on the religious leaders of his day.  In fact, it is reserved exclusively for them, as they are hypocritical and self-righteous, traits they carry with them to this very day.  Yet, the Gospels also record Jesus eating at table with them, just as he does with tax collectors and prostitutes.  He engages with them in a never-ending attempt to bring conversion and reform to their lives.  The table fellowship is not a reward; it is the place of encounter and hoped for restoration.

John the Baptist had his hopes and expectations for the coming Messiah, hopes that many today share about Jesus' ever expectant second act on earth.  Yet just as in the first, so it will likely be in the second that the reality may not match the preview announced.  We look for Jesus to come in the clouds with judgment and power, and instead we find him in the person of the immigrant, migrant, refugee, poor, and marginalized.  We find him at stable and table. 

A Simple Mission

Gospel: Matthew 9: 35-10: 1, 6-8

The message and mission of Jesus and his disciples is set out clearly in today's Gospel portion.  In the first part of the passage we find Jesus going to every town and village throughout Galilee doing four things: proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God, healing those who were ill, liberating those in the grip of demons, and feeding those who were hungry.  In every Gospel story Jesus is doing one or more of these four things.

Then, in the second part of today's passage we find Jesus observing how tired people are.  They follow him in order to be healed, liberated, and nourished.  He realizes that the need is great and that more people need to do his work.  So, Jesus empowers his disciples to go and do these four things: proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, heal people of their illnesses, liberate them from their demons, and feed them at table.  That's it.  That's the Christian life in four easy steps.

This Advent, skip the pricey "discipleship" series your church is having   If it's not about these four things it's not worth attending.  Instead, undertake a deep reflection individually and with others on how one can live out this mission of Jesus.  Consider all the places where this work can be undertaken, discern one's own gifts and where God is calling you to do this work.  Then, go and do that work, finding a small group of others who do so in order to have a community of prayer and support in this mission.  

Tell No One

Gospel: Matthew 9: 27-31

In today's Gospel portion Jesus heals two blind men, then he sternly orders them to tell no one, as he does so often with people he has healed.  And in every case the person or people healed do not follow the Lord's instruction.  They go all about telling people about the miracle Jesus performed for them.  What happens, of course, is that great crowds follow Jesus, and he comes under scrutiny from the religious and political powers of the day, ultimately leading to his execution.

We moderns, of course, take the side of the folks healed.  We think they should go tell everyone and ignore what the Lord has instructed them to do.  In fact, we have monetized this disregard, turning it into massive media empires, creating entire cottage industries of "testimonials" and "witnessing", claiming it's all for the Lord, of course, but in reality it's all about us.  It's all about branding, making money for ourselves and our "ministry" pyramid scheme.  

Someone may object: what do you expect them to do after being healed?  An answer exists in the very first healing Jesus performs on Peter's mother-in-law.  Like her, we are to rise from our bed and serve others, uttering not a single word.  The one who has received healing and mercy is simply to extend healing and mercy to others in the world.  That is authentic discipleship.  That is what the Lord came to bring to humanity.  That is our reflection this Advent: how will we bring healing and mercy to others?

"Lord! Lord!"

Gospel: Matthew 7: 21, 24-27

In ancient times when a conquering general entered a defeated city it was fairly common for a number of people to line the streets shouting "Lord, Lord" in an attempt to curry favor and obtain mercy from the new power.  Most generals showed no mercy.  The entire populace would be remanded into slavery or slaughtered, depending on the whim of the general that day.  After all, these people currying favor today were yesterday cursing your name and actively supporting the opposition against you.  

This is the context for Jesus' teaching in today's Gospel.  It is why not everyone who yells "Lord, Lord" will enter God's kingdom.  For just yesterday we were enemies of God's kingdom and rebels against God's rule.  But now today we curry favor with God.  We seek God's mercy.  But rather than condemn us all, Jesus instead issues amnesty and a test of our loyalty.  Will we carry out God's commands to love and extend mercy to others, or will we not? This will determine who is worthy of entry into the kingdom.

God has provided us with a tremendous gift in extending mercy to the entire human race.  Becoming conscious of that gift and responding to it are the keys to living up to the expectations of the gift.  Advent is a time for us to reflect deeply on this gift we have received and how we are to respond to it.  How will we show mercy and love for others in our daily life? To what ministry is God calling me in extending this gift of mercy to others in the world? 

Food for All

Gospel: Matthew 15: 29-37

In this version of the multiplication story it is Jesus who takes the initiative to feed the hungry masses who have followed him out to a deserted place in the northern regions of Galilee.  They came out there to see him and in order to be healed of their infirmities.  People from every walk of life, every race and nationality and religious persuasion came to him with every variety of affliction and ailment, demon and whatever else that possessed them.

Jesus healed every single one of them without distinction.  When he was finished healing and liberating them, he set about to feed every single person as well.  He did so without creating arbitrary categories of worthiness or deservedness.  No one was excluded from the love and care of Jesus.  Everyone received healing, liberation, and nourishment.  There is not one instance of Jesus ever turning anyone away from the table or from himself.

We have a lot to learn from Jesus.  We love to create categories of exclusion, arbitrary notions of what makes a person worthy to receive care or the Eucharist.  Jesus only had one requirement - are you in need of healing, are you hungry?  There are no legals and illegals, no worthies and unworthies in the kingdom of God and in Jesus' circle of care.  There are just people who are sick and ailing, people who are hungry.  Let us do as Jesus did and care for all without distinction.     

Recognizing the Coming

Gospel: Luke 10: 21-24

When Jesus came in the specific historical time and place in which he lived, some recognized his coming for what it was.  Some, however, did not recognize it, and still others openly rejected that presence in the world.  Today's Gospel passage reflects on that fact, and those who do accept Jesus for who he is - or at least state that they do - find it incredulous that there would be those who did not recognize it, and even more aghast that there were those who openly rejected it.

But consider: it is the core of our faith that every single human being is an image and likeness of God, each one another Christ, each one a temple of the Holy Spirit.  God is present and manifest in each person.  Yet, how many truly recognize this fact and live that reality?  How many do not see it at all?  And how many openly reject this fact?  When images of God are called "illegals" or referred to in racial slurs, slurs to demean one as special needs or of one's identity, the number of those rejecting this truth of faith is quite high indeed.

What does this have to do with Advent? We are not awaiting the coming of Jesus the first time; that has already happened.  We are not even awaiting the coming of Jesus the second time; that's like waiting for Godot.  We are preparing ourselves to encounter the living God in the presence of others each and every day, and to live that reality by loving them, extending mercy and compassion on them, and honoring their dignity, worth, and identity as images of God in the world.  That is our Advent task.

Coming to Cure

Gospel: Matthew 8: 5-11

"I will come and cure him."  This announcement is Jesus' response to the centurion who asks him to heal his servant.  This sentence forms the entire theme of Advent as well.  We have received the announcement that Jesus will come to provide a cure for what ails us.  We have been in the grips of illness for so long.  We are on the point of death and can't even ask help for ourselves that we need another to ask fur us.  And Jesus states that he comes to cure us.

Now, this announcement holds true for all the comings of Jesus in our lives.  Not only was it true in his coming to earth 2000 years ago.  It is true for each coming into our lives here on earth.  Whenever we encounter the Lord in moments of grace - in the person of others, in sacramental experiences, in moments of religious experience in prayer and nature - it is a moment of healing for us.  In fact, we can say that any authentic religious experience is one where we have this feeling of healing, liberation, and nourishment.  

So, now that we have had this experience of encounter and healing with the Lord, what now?  Now, it is our task to be the presence of healing, liberation, and healing for others in the same way that Jesus had been for us.  We are now to be Christ for others and be a healing presence in the world that is in such need of healing presence.  This is our Advent task: to discern how and where we are called to be the healing presence of God for others. 

The Likely Coming

Gospel: Matthew 24: 37-44

Our daily routines dominate our lives.  They provide our lives with structure, order, and a sense of having things over which we have some control in a world that often feels chaotic.  Much of this routine is a good thing for those reasons.  However, the routine can often blind us to other realities that are vitally important for us to consider.  Often, the routine presents us with the illusion of normal, that this daily pattern will go on indefinitely for us.  

But then, we are faced with our mortality.  We receive a devastating medical diagnosis.  Or we are caring for a loved one facing their end.  Worse still, we find our end comes suddenly and unexpectedly in an accident or medical trauma.  We now have no time at all and death is before us.  We have not pondered its reality at all in our lives; we were too busy with the daily routine.  Even though we know death is inevitable, we seek to avoid it both in thought and reality until it stares us square in the face.  

Advent is about preparing for Jesus' coming, and we are often encouraged to consider this in terms of Jesus' second coming at the end of time.  However, we are more likely to encounter that coming at our own death, and we are more likely to encounter Jesus coming to us in our daily lives in the person of other people who bear his presence within them.  So, let us consider these two things this Advent: our own mortality and encounter with the Lord in death, and our encounter with the Lord in the people we meet each day. 

Free from Anxiety

Gospel: Luke 21: 34-36

The anxieties of daily life are things we all have.  But are they things we need not have at all?  Jesus tells us these anxieties can weigh us down and cause us to love sight of what is truly important.  If we take stock of what we are anxious about, we will find it is all about our material possessions.  We have houses full of stuff, so much so we need storage units for the stuff we cannot fit in our houses.  We have security and alarm systems, guns, cameras, and the like to protect out stuff. 

We toil at a career and jobs in order to pay for our stuff and the stuff that protects our stuff.  But what if we didn't have all this stuff? What if we lived a simple life and divested ourselves of all this stuff, keeping only what we really needed?  Perhaps we might not be so anxious.  Going further, what if we put our stuff to good use by giving it to others who do not have stuff and need stuff.  What if we were conscious of this dynamic continually, using our surplus to help others instead of adding to our stuff?

Such talk is heresy in a capitalist world that demands and requires us to be consumerists.  We moderns have even coined a pet phrase for all this consumerism - hoarding.  The ancients called it sin.  To hoard possessions when others are in dire need is simply sin.  It is this sin that causes our anxiety.  But if we live simply and share our surplus with others we will not be anxious, and we will be doing what we should be doing as followers of Jesus, ready for the day of his coming.  

Does It Matter?

Gospel: Luke 21: 29-33

While in seminary, St. Aloysius Gonzaga was playing billiards with other seminarians during recreation.  The topic arose: what would you do if it was announced that the second coming of Jesus would take place in two hours?  Some seminarians stated they would rush to the chapel and pray fervently.  Others said they would seek out a priest and go to confession.  When the others asked Aloysius what he would do, he replied, "I'd keep playing pool."

This endless nonsense of the end times reveals a great deal about our insecurities in our own faith lives as Christians.  The above story indicates that we are not really living the Christian life as we ought most of the time, and we in fact have shallow, weak faith.  If we were so confident in our faith lives, we would be going about doing what Jesus did while on earth, extending love and mercy in concrete actions wherever we go without a worry at all about topics like the end times or even our own individual death.  

Aloysius had the serenity of faith to not worry about such questions of end times or his own death.  He died young, before ever being ordained.  He contracted the plague while caring for the sick in local hospitals.  He was doing what we are all called to do - caring for others, providing healing, liberation, and nourishment for others.  If we do likewise, we can set aside the useless anxiety about the end times and our impending mortality, for all shall we well with us. 

A Day of Thanks

Gospel: Luke 17: 11-19

For the Christian, whenever their nation celebrates their Thanksgiving Day, it is a day of profound irony.  On the one hand it is a right and good thing to set aside a day of thanks, for gratitude is a great virtue that produces abundant graces.  At the same time the Christian realizes that every day is a day of thanks for her, for she knows that thanksgiving is foundational to the Christian life.  The word Eucharist means thanksgiving, and is the very center of our lives as followers of Jesus.

The origin of many Thanksgiving celebrations in nations is often about the end of a war or the conquest of a land or some other event that brought harm to other people.  However, in the Christian life we celebrate the Eucharist and give thanks for the person of Jesus, for his conquering sin and death in our lives, and in making it possible for us to find the way to the kingdom of God both in this life and in the one to come.  It is something we can be thankful for for ourselves and for all people.  

The Samaritan returned to give thanks to Jesus for healing and restoring him.  He could not show himself to the priests who would reject him as a hated foreigner.  He could not return to his homeland and tell them a Jewish rabbi healed him.  He went to the only place he could to offer thanks - to the One who healed him.  We too go today and each day to the One who has healed us, to the One who has healed and restored all people with his love and mercy.  

The Illusion of Modern Christianity

Gospel: Luke 21: 12-19

The modern Christian oddly sees the normal operating procedure of Christianity to be one of extreme comfort: weekly worship in large, comfortable, and well adorned spaces; ample housing for our ministers; privilege in being part of the ruling class that lords it over others.  Our main source of contention is what color the new carpeting for the narthex will be.  Our idea of persecution is the coffee shop using cups that say "Happy Holidays."  

Jesus spent his life on earth with no place permanent to lay his head.  He went from town to town healing people of their illnesses, liberating them from their demons, and nourishing them at table.  For all this he was arrested, tortured, and executed.  Jesus then tells his disciples that this is our vocation, and this is our lot in life on earth.  We are to go about healing, liberating, and nourishing, thinking little of our own needs and comfort, and we should expect abuse from others.

There are many disconnects between Jesus in the Gospels and the modern Christian.  The illusions of what we imagine Christianity to be built up over time have clouded over so much of the Gospels.  The modern Christian has become the persecutor rather than the one persecuted.  He thinks it Christian behavior to demean refugees whom he has created and arrest those who would care for them, all while claiming persecution status for holding such views if contradicted.  Woe to us...

Adorning Temples

Gospel: Luke 21: 5-11

The context of Jesus speaking about wars and natural disasters is the fact that people are fawning over the beauty of the Temple building.  It was a beautiful structure, as were many other places made by human hands that are no more.  But these places are non-living structures, and they do not compare to the temple God made - the human person who is a living being and who has an eternal destiny, neither of which these buildings possess.  The building will be destroyed and be no more; the human person will live on.  

Yet we spend so much of our time enamored of our buildings and their adornments, often at the expense of human beings, the temples of God.  We marvel at the Temple, forgetting it was built through human slavery and degradation of other human beings.  We are aghast at any impropriety in temple buildings, but we think so little of abasing other human beings and exploiting them for our benefit.  We are fully immersed in the idolatry of false temples to the neglect of the true ones.  

Jesus spent his entire ministry healing, liberating, and nourishing the temples of God he encountered each day - people.  He was utterly indifferent to buildings and structures like the Temple.  He preferred the work and worship of the Good Samaritan to that of the priest and Levite.  If we claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus, if we claim to care about idolatry, then let us follow his example and care more for the temples God has created with eternal destinies and less to those we have made that do not.

 

Of Widows and the Rich

Gospel: Luke 21: 1-4

Jesus provides this story to teach us a lesson that authentic charity costs something to the one who gives.  It must affect our need as well as our wants.  In the case of the rich it is never the case that their donations affect them much at all.  They have all they will ever need and few, if any, of their wants are affected by the donations they provide.  Moreover, the rich will likely take a tax deduction that will enable them to receive a later refund on this "gift."  They will also publicize their largesse in order to monetize their apparent charity.

On the other hand, those of lesser means often give up most of their wants and some of their needs in order to help others.  It is a hardship for them to help another, but they do so because they themselves know what it is to be in need of help from another.  They themselves may be in need even now, but also realize that another's need is greater than their own.  So, those of lesser means readily come to the aid of those even less fortunate than themselves, as this widow does.

This poor widow stands as an indictment to both the rich and the temple itself.  The rich do not even see her as they parade their wealth to the temple.  Her need is utterly unseen by them.  Moreover, the temple that stands as a symbol for an entire religious institution founded to help widows and the poor will receive the donations of many, but use it not to help the widow but for its own aggrandizement.  The true temple of God - the one in real need - is the widow herself.   

Kings and Things

Gospel: Luke 23: 35-43

At the very beginning of the Gospel, Jesus goes into the desert to be tempted by Satan, who three times says that if he is the Son of God to do various things - turn stones to bread, hurl himself off the Temple mount, accept worldly power.  All are self-interested and self-serving temptations, all of which Jesus rejects.  Now, on the cross he faces the same taunts: if you are God's son, save yourself, and us too!  Self-interest at its maximum!  

Worldly kings are all about their self-interest.  Sure, they may protect a group of people, but not out of concern for them, but so that they might retain power and esteem among the people.  Time and again the crowd would seek to make Jesus king, but he refused.  He simply went about healing people of their infirmities, delivering them from their demons, and feeding them at table.  His kingship is one of service.  His throne is the cross.  His orb a water basin.  His scepter a towel.  

Today's feast is not about instituting some Christian dynasty on earth.  Nor is it reducing the Gospel to some political program or following worldly leaders.  It is about following what our king did while on earth - healing others, liberating them from their demons, feeding them at table.  Our king is the one who reminded us his kingdom is not of this world.  It is a kingdom within us, and a kingdom beyond us, one we inhabit when we do what he did.   

What'll It Be Like?

Gospel: Luke 20: 27-40

We might not find the particularities of the question in today's Gospel to be very interesting or relevant.  The scenario is rather far fetched, and it reads like a nerdy thought experiment in a philosophy textbook.  In one sense that particular question is somewhat offensive, arguing over possession of a woman in the afterlife, but the context is a patriarchal society, and Jesus' answer is to our liking in that regard: there is no possession of anyone in God's kingdom.  That holds for this life and the next one.

But we are all curious about what the next life is all about.  As we get older we think more and more about it.  When we are close to death we begin to have dreams about our loved ones - spouses, parents, grandparents.  We see them as present in the room with us.  Those who have had these dreams and visions say it brings them great comfort and peace.  It is a glimpse for them of what lies ahead as death grows more imminent.  

Throughout November the Church has us think of the dead and our own impending passing.  How we live our life matters a great deal, not only to ourselves but to others.  Consider the memories we have of those who have gone before us, and know that others will have memories of us when we pass.  Have we been a positive influence on their lives? How will they see us when we pass?  Today is a day to light a candle for the dead, and one for our own memories and destiny. 

What If...

Gospel: Luke 19: 45-48

In our age of activism and zealotry, today's story of Jesus cleansing the Temple is a popular one, used to justify all sorts of behavior and postures by people hard pressed to come up with another Gospel text to know.  But what if this story isn't about what we think it is? This action of Jesus was a small one in a very large complex.  Its impact was more symbolic than substantive.  Moreover, the Temple had already been destroyed by the time this Gospel story was first heard.

Jesus had made it clear - in line with the larger biblical tradition - that the true temple of God is not a stone building, but rather the heart and soul of the human person.  Each person is a temple where God desires to dwell.  Seen in this light, this action of Jesus is really about the cleansing of our own temples and how we have made our own lives a den of thieves and an unjust marketplace.  This story challenges us to consider our own temple and what needs cleansing therein.

It is easy to love this story when it is about somebody else or about some institutional sin.  It is much less likeable when we have to apply it to ourselves and our own sin.  How often is that the case with scriptures in general!  Scripture is designed to invoke moral and spiritual reflection and change within ourselves.  It is not to be used as a weapon against others.  So today let us attend to the cleansing within God's temple - the heart and soul God created within us for divine indwelling and communion. 

If Only...

Gospel: Luke 19: 41-44

If only we knew what makes for peace...Jesus makes this lament as he enters Jerusalem for the final time in the lead up to his trial and execution.  He can see the decision that will be made.  The crowd will choose revolution and zealotry in the person of Barabbas over him.  They will choose at some point to revolt against the Roman Empire, which in turn will lead to their destruction and utter ruin.  They will make all these choices because they did not know the path of peace.  

This lament of Jesus is repeated in every generation, for time and again his so-called followers make the same choice.  They choose the way of the tyrant, the way of revolution and violence.  They put their trust in the strong man, the political party, the instruments of execution and war.  They choose the path of animus against the vulnerable whom they themselves create and exploit.  And they do all this in the ultimate act of blasphemy - in the name of Jesus himself.

No greater enemy of Jesus exists than his own followers who betray his person and teaching at every turn.  No greater source of irreligion and secularism exists than those who claim the name Christian and act in every way contrary to his own life.  The only path of peace is the path of Jesus - the path where we set about to heal, liberate, and feed all regardless of gender, class, ethnicity, race, or any other category or status.  If we wish to know peace, we must follow this way of Jesus, prince of peace.

Using the Talents

Gospel: Luke 19: 11-28

How are we to use the talents entrusted to us by the Lord? To what purposes should we use the treasure given to us? In the world, as in this parable, such wealth and talents are used to enrich the wealthy land owner and capitalist.  The sole purpose of labor in the worldly sense is to continue feeding the pyramid scheme that is the economy wherein wealth is matriculated upward to the elite while those who produce it are given as little as possible.  

But in the kingdom of God it is the exact reverse.  Whenever wealth and talents are discussed it is done so in the context of helping others - those who are sick, hungry, and marginalized.  The rich man was condemned to hell for failing to use his talents to help poor Lazarus.  The priest and Levite did not use their talents to help the man dying in the ditch, while the Samaritan who does so becomes the model for the one who keeps the greatest commandment, the one who will inherit the kingdom of God.

Everyday we have the means and opportunities at our disposal to use our talents and treasures to help others.  We can heal other people with our presence and interaction.  We can lift people out of poverty with the wealth we have.  We can welcome the outcast and marginalized, making their lives warm and safe once again.  There are so many opportunities at our disposal to use our talents and treasures for the kingdom of God in the ways Jesus himself did in his life on earth. 

Ignoring "Everyone"

Gospel: Luke 19: 1-10

Again we find a large group - everyone, as the narrator states - who is seeking to prevent a person from having access to Jesus.  Initially, they prevent Zacchaeus from seeing Jesus in a passive way.  They are so self-absorbed with their own seeing of Jesus that they are unconcerned with the needs of anyone else who have the same desire.  They are like any crowd star gazing.  Each person cannot imagine anyone else but them is that important to see Jesus.  

But Zacchaeus is resourceful and he finds his own way to see Jesus.  This initiative leads Jesus to announce that he intends to stay at Zacchaeus' house, whereupon everyone's passive prevention of Zacchaeus seeing Jesus now becomes an active protest.  How could Jesus possibly break bread and enter the house of one who is so sinful and harmful to other people? Heaven forbid that such an atrocity should take place in our city!

When "everyone" tells you to ignore the needs of the immigrant, the migrant, the refugee, the poor, and the marginalized of any kind because they are not worthy, do what Jesus did.  Ignore "everyone" and provide love and compassion to them.  When "everyone" is seeking to block access to someone seeking to see the Lord, that's a good indicator that we should ignore them and provide the welcome that Jesus provided each and every time others sought to block access to him.