THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, OCTOBER 30, 2022

LORD, BE MY GUEST TODAY AND ALWAYS

Greeting (Cf. First Reading)

The Lord God loves all that exists

and he is merciful to all.

He overlooks our sins, so that we can repent.

May our Lord, the lover of life, be always with you.

R/ And with your spirit.

Introduction

I Must Stay at Your House Today

What a consolation and encouragement for us that the Lord Jesus wants to be our guest, our friend, our companion on the road! And this holds true whoever we are, whatever we have done wrong. The Lord Jesus sees us and knows us and he wants to stay with us today, now, in our actual situation.

Furthermore, there are people who keep searching for higher values in life. Perhaps one is only half satisfied with the kind of life one is leading, or feels guilty about his or her way of life. The gospel of today shows us a small man, literally and morally, in search of the Lord. To his surprise, Jesus sees the hunger in the man’s heart and turns to him. Jesus wishes to encounter him. If we ourselves recognize our smallness, the Lord will show himself to us, and invite himself to go with us and to stay with us. He will make us great in love and goodness. In this Eucharist we ask him that we may become more aware of his offer—to stay with us—and accept it with great joy.

Penitential Act

The Lord overlooks our sins,

so that we can repent and live.

Let us commend ourselves to his mercy.

(pause)

Lord Jesus, you are kind

and full of compassion:

Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ, you support all who fall

and raise up all who are bowed down:

Christ have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you are slow to anger

and you are good and loving to all:

Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Lord, lover of life,

let us live in your forgiving love;

restore us and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray to God

that Jesus may be close to us and change us

(pause)

Lord God, lover of life,

we are small before you

because we are aware that we are sinners.

We bless you for the joy and the forgiveness

that you let your Son Jesus bring to your people.

Let him be very close to us,

so that he may change our lives and mentality.

May he dispose us to share with our brothers and sisters

your mercy and forgiving love.

We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.

First Reading (Wisdom 11:22-12:2): God, the Lover of Life

The patient, merciful God gives the sinner a chance to repent, for he loves people. Even his punishments are “educational,” intended not to condemn but to correct and to lead to conversion.

1 Reading: Wisdom 11:22-12:2

Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook people’s sins that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? But you spare all things, because they are yours, O LORD and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things! Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!

Responsorial PSALM 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13, 14

R. (cf. 1) I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.

I will extol you, O my God and King,

and I will bless your name forever and ever.

Every day will I bless you,

and I will praise your name forever and ever. R.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and of great kindness.

The LORD is good to all

and compassionate toward all his works. R.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,

and let your faithful ones bless you.

Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your might. R.

The LORD is faithful in all his words

and holy in all his works.

The LORD lifts up all who are falling

and raises up all who are bowed down. R.

Second Reading (2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2): God’s People, Sign of Christ’s Glory

No sensational rumors about the coming end of the world can upset us if we live up to our calling as Christians, and thus become the signs of the glory of Jesus Christ.

2 Reading: 2 THESSALONIANS 1:11-2:2

Brothers and sisters: We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ. We ask you, brothers and sisters, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.

Alleluia: JOHN 3:16

Alleluia, alleluia.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel (Luke 19:1-10): I Have Come to Seek Out What Was Lost

A real encounter with Jesus cannot leave us indifferent. Zacchaeus meets Jesus and is converted.

Gospel: LUKE 19:1-10

At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they 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.” And 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.”

Commentary

Transforming Lives

The Book of Wisdom teaches us that the sign of God’s omnipotence is his mercy and compassion for all beings. Paul observes that it is God who makes us worthy of his calling and fulfils our good intentions. Jesus embodies the compassion of God which moves Zacchaeus to conversion.

Zacchaeus’ conversion story is a great pedagogical example as to how to transform people for the better, to bring the best out of them. Look at how Jesus goes about doing it: Here is a tax collector, a sinner in the eyes of the society and therefore held in contempt. No self-respecting Jew would want to associate with him. What does Jesus do? He simply tells Zacchaeus that he wants to spend the night at his house. Zacchaeus is delighted; yet, at the back of his mind he will have expected some private censure by Jesus. But, nothing. Jesus does not utter a word about his sinful life; instead simply enjoys his hospitality. That’s enough to bring Zacchaeus to conversion. When he announces his intention to the public, Jesus joyfully affirms his belovedness to God.

“Lord, give me the grace to accept people as they are.”

Visit (or talk to) someone whom you have kept away from your life for long.

Intercessions

With trust, let us pray to God who is kind and full of compassion and let us say: