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 to him, “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.” 

Based on a true story, the setting of the movie "Invincible" is the working-class urban neighborhood of Philadelphia in the mid-70's, a neighborhood that is on the verge of economic and physical collapse. The neighborhood is not unlike their NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles who finished a dreadful season in 1975, drifting further than ever from the "winning tradition" that they wanted. Likewise down on his luck was Vince Papole, a victim of countless local factory closures, barely supporting his family with substitute teaching stints and nighttime bar tending, and despairing over his wife who decided to leave him. His constant thought was to improve his lot in life, but he never could quite pull it off. When the Eagles hired Dick Vermeil as coach, and he called for open tryouts prior to the '76 season, Vince saw a chance that seemed impossible to someone who did not have the advantage of college football experience, but trying out for the team was a way to improve what he had. He put his whole heart and soul into it.

How does one improve what he/she has in life? We need the opportunities before we can improve, to be sure, and many argue that the opportunities are always present. What we need more than anything is the motivation to improve. The evangelist Luke in his story about Zacchaeus calls it a "desire to see."

In Luke's story, Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector of the area in which Jesus was preaching was someone who wanted to see. He literally wanted to see Jesus as he was passing by, and could not because he was short in stature. Actually, he wanted to see Jesus because he was looking for much more in his life. His reputation was one of hurting others. He was a chief tax collector, and therefore, he was guilty of what we now call the sin of extortion. In order to make his livelihood, he taxed his fellow Hebrews more than the Roman tax demanded so that he would be able to pay the Romans, and also enjoy a good life. Judging from what he did when Jesus called him, Zacchaeus was looking for the chance to improve himself. He was reaching out to someone who would understand and help him.

The fact is that we all have the opportunities to improve the way we live and act in our lives. We study Vince Papole or Zacchaeus of Luke's Gospel and we see the motivation that moved them to use the opportunities they had. We can follow their example.

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you have given us the opportunities to do better because you always give us what we need. Give us the grace to truly desire to improve our lives, and help us move ourselves to do it. Be with us, we pray.

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America