This weekend at Mass, we heard the familiar story of Zacchaeus. We heard how he ran to climb a tree to see Jesus, how we promised to sell half his possessions, how he committed himself to repaying anyone he extorted four times over. An amazing turn around for the chief tax collector, a wealthy man.
But this story isn’t about what Zacchaeus does. It’s not about him seeking Jesus. It’s about Jesus seeking him. It’s about God’s mercy.
Think about how Jesus has talked about the rich throughout this Gospel! He has just finished saying that it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than a rich person to enter heaven. He says “Woe to you rich” in the beatitudes. Over and over we see examples of rich people being condemned for their selfishness and injustice, and here was a chief tax collector, a rich man. Is there anyone in the ancient world more hated, farther from the Kingdom of Heaven? If you didn’t know how this story ended, you would expect Pharisee-level condemnations.
But he doesn’t. He welcomes him. He proclaims salvation on his house. Why? Because all throughout the Gospel of Luke we have seen that Jesus has come for the lost, and there is no one more lost that Zacchaeus. What this story shows is that no one is outside of God’s reach.
Watch Something Else This Halloween
Admittedly, I love thrillers. I’m not a huge fan of horror movies, but there’s something about suspense, about movies that make you scream, that I love to watch. This week, Fr. Patrick and I review one such movie… that we highly recommend you don’t see. Watch our video and skip the movie itself.
I’m a Mouse. Duh!
On Friday, the high school where I’m chaplain allowed students and faculty to dress up for Halloween. Wanting to take part but not wanting to put in a lot of effort, I picked a costume from one of my favorite movies: Mean Girls. (In case you’re worried, I wore my habit as normal and just put on a mouse ears headband.) Also, I love this movie and you should listen to Fr. Tito and I talk about it. It’s actually a really good movie.
It was a TikTok sort of week
It seems that kids these days are spending their time on TikTok more than anything else. It’s not my favorite place to make content, but I guess I have to try, right? I thought these videos were helpful, if nothing else.
We should be stewards, not “owners” of God’s creation:
Some didn’t understand, so here are the receipts:
And, are sins subjective? Yes. And no.
Trying to Keep Up…
Yeah, that is a lot of content for one week. Oh, and I have a daily reflection podcast. And I’m releasing two videos at the same time tomorrow. It’s been a tight schedule and I happy to make it all, but man… it’s frustrating when I find myself up at 9:30 writing this because I’ve been working all day on a project that’s not going to work (at least not on time.) All is grace.
Peace and good this week,
Fr. Casey
Breaking In The Habit 
Wow Father Casey – I had no idea you were on Tic Tok. One thing I love about the church and about you order is the reverence and respect you demonstrate towards the poor and disenfranchised. It makes me proud to be a Catholic.