God excludes no one,
neither rich nor poor, "He is not conditioned by human prejudice and
desires the salvation of every soul, this is why in Jesus’ earthly life there are numerous episodes which show the" immense mercy "
of God. Such is the case in the episode of Zacchaeus, from this
Sunday’s Gospel, illustrated by Benedict XVI before the Angelus.
At least 50 thousand people, including thousands of
children and youth from Catholic Action crowded St Peter's Square,
despite the rainy day.
The Pope told them that "God can not be influenced by our human prejudices, but sees in each of us a soul to save and is especially attracted to those that are considered forsaken and who consider themselves as much ".
He
added: "Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God, has shown this immense
mercy, that does not diminish the gravity of sin, but always aims to
save the sinner, to offer him the chance to redeem himself, to start
over, to convert."
This was the lesson that the Pope drew from the story
of Zacchaeus, narrated by the evangelist Luke, who "pays special
attention to the theme of Christ’s mercy. In his narrative, in fact,
there are several episodes that highlight the merciful love of God and Christ, who stated that he came to call not the righteous, but sinners (cf. Lk 5:32). Among the typical stories of Luke there is the conversion of Zacchaeus, that we read in this Sunday's liturgy. Zacchaeus is a 'publican', indeed, the chief tax collector in Jericho, a major city near the Jordan River. The
publicans were the tax collectors of the taxes that the Jews had to pay
the Roman Empire, and because of this were considered public sinners. Moreover, they often took advantage of their position to extort money from the people. For this Zacchaeus was very wealthy, but despised by his fellow citizens. So when Jesus, passing through Jericho, stopped right at the house of Zacchaeus, it provoked a general scandal. The Lord, however, knew very well what he was doing. He,
so to speak, wanted to take a risk, and he won: Zacchaeus, deeply
impressed by Jesus’ visit, decided to change his life, and promised to
return four times what he had stolen. Today salvation has come to this house,' says Jesus, and concludes: 'For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost’.
"Zacchaeus - concluded the Pope - accepted Jesus and was converted because Jesus had first welcomed him! He had not condemned, but had gone to meet his desire for salvation. Let
us pray to the Virgin Mary, model of perfect communion with Jesus, so
that we can experience the joy of being visited by the Son of God, of
being renewed by his love, and passing on his mercy to others. "
After the Marian prayer, Benedict XVI recalled that
"yesterday, in the cathedral of Oradea Mare in Romania, Cardinal Peter
Erdo beatified Szilárd Bogdánffy, bishop and martyr.
In
1949 - the Pope said - when he was 38, he was consecrated bishop in
hiding, and then arrested by the communist regime in his country,
Romania, on charges of conspiracy.
After four years of suffering and humiliation, he died in prison. Let us thank God for this heroic shepherd of the Church who followed the Lamb to the end! May his testimony today also comfort those who are persecuted for the Gospel. "
SIC: AN/INT'L