There is a subversive humour in today’s Gospel which turns upside down the conventions of everyday life: we see a senior tax official climbing up a tree for a glimpse of Jesus, and the faintly ridiculous scene where Jesus stops, looks into the branches of the sycamore and says, “Zacchaeus, come down!” Did Zacchaeus worry about what people thought? The rest of the story shows that he did not. It would be easy to laugh at little Zacchaeus – and people in the town probably did, in between muttering about his extortionate taxes. And yet he has understood the message of God more clearly than others: he reveals the meaning of the first reading, since he understands that God is gentle, merciful and loving. Jesus corrects him, “little by little…so that he may abstain from evil and trust in the Lord.”
Today’s Scripture
Wisdom 11: 22 – 12: 2
Response: Psalm 144.
I will give you glory, O God my King,
I will bless your name for ever.
I will bless you day after day
and praise your name for ever..
The Lord is kind and full of compassion,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
How good is the Lord to all,
compassionate to all his creatures.
All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,
and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign
and declare your might, O God.
The Lord is faithful in all his words
and loving in all his deeds.
The Lord supports all who fall
and raises all who are bowed down.
(Sung Antiphon: I will bless your name for ever, O God my King.)
2 Thessalonians 1: 11 – 2: 2
Acclamation for the Gospel:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Luke 19: 1–10
Prayer of the Faithful:

R/. Lord, save us and raise us up
