Hide-and-seek

31ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

30 OCT 2022

[ Luke 19: 1-10 ]

Hide-and-seek.

‘Hide-and-seek’ is probably one of the timeless childhood games. It is played by two or more players: the ‘hider(s)’ will always try to hide from the ‘seeker’ while the ‘seeker’ will relentlessly search to find the ‘hider(s)’.

 

Interestingly, our journey of faith can be analogous to our childhood ‘hide-and-seek’. There are many accounts in the Bible narrating the ‘hide-and-seek’ between God and man.

 

   Man is ‘seeker’ and ‘hider’ at the same time.

 

(1) Man is in search of God.

 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC 27] teaches that, “The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.”

 

Yes, deep within the recesses of our hearts, we hunger and thirst for the one true God who alone is ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life’ [Jn 14: 6]. To quote St Augustine of Hippo, “Our heart is restless until it rests in God.”

 

(2) Yet, man hides from God.

 

Even though we desire for God, our search for God is often half-way, half-baked and half-hearted due to our own frailty, laziness, brokenness and sinfulness.

 

We are ‘seekers’ in search of God – but yet at the same time – we are ‘hiders’ trying to flee from Him. Our slothful and sinful selves always want the easy way out: faith without work, wisdom without experience, growth without pain, love without commitment, freedom without responsibilities, Gospel without discipleship, salvation without repentance, Church without discipline, Communion without confession, resurrection without the cross, and heaven without God. [Adapted from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Cost of Discipleship.]

 

   God is always the ‘Seeker’; He never hides.

 

God Himself promises that [Jr 29: 13], “When you search for Me, you will find Me; if you seek Me with all your heart…” God is always the ‘Seeker’; He never hides. He always reveals Himself, makes Himself known, and allows Himself to be found.

 

In Genesis [Gn 3], immediately after Adam and Eve defied God and ate from the tree forbidden by God – the two were ridden by guilt and were trying to hide away from God – while God came in search of them.

 

   God continues to search for man.

 

God has not abandoned us to us to the power of death after the fall of humanity (cf. Gen 3), but instead God has continued His relentless search for you and for me.

 

In the letters to the Hebrews [Heb 1: 1-2], we are told of this marvellous truth: “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son.”

 

After Adam and Eve, God has continuously revealed Himself and sought to save humanity stage by stage through covenants: He saved Noah and his family [Gn 9], He chose Abraham and his tribe [Gn 12], He guided His people Israel through Moses [Ex 19-24], He built a Kingdom out of David [2 Sm 7], and in the fullness of time, from the pierced side of His only Begotten Son, He established His one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church [Lk 22: 20].

 

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He has not once but multiple times, both in words and in deeds, showed that He has come searching for us [Lk 15: 1-32]: He is the Good Shepherd who comes searching for His lost sheep; He is the woman looking for His lost drachma; and He is the merciful Father waiting for the return of His prodigal son.

 

   Zacchaeus searched for Jesus, but Jesus found him.

Let us also pray that God’s justice, peace, truth and love may prevail in Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.

On the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Gospel reading tells of Zacchaeus seeking to see Jesus. Perhaps, he had heard of all the hypes about Jesus – His person, His teaching and His miracles – and therefore he had wanted to see who this Jesus was.

 

Zacchaeus is a man of short stature. To make things worse, he is the chief tax collector for the Roman regime, and therefore he was considered a public sinner – much despised and hated. He must have been pushed away by the crowd. So, he ran ahead of the crowd and shamelessly climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus who was passing that way.

 

This was the first time that Zacchaeus was seeing Jesus. But even before Zacchaeus could open his mouth, Jesus spotted him first and called out his name [Lk 19: 5], “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”

 

Yes, to everyone’s horror, Jesus had called Zacchaeus, a public sinner, by his name and wanted to stay with him. No one, in the right frame of mind, would want to associate with public sinners.

 

The Gospel recalls that Zacchaeus came down hurriedly and received Jesus joyfully. He even sincerely repented and vowed to make amends for all his sins. He searched for Jesus, but Jesus found him!

 

   We are in search of Jesus, but it is always Jesus who finds us.

 

Like the childhood ‘hide-and-seek’, we are both ‘seekers’ and ‘hiders’ but our Lord Jesus is always the relentless ‘Seeker’.

 

Our search for Jesus maybe half-way, half-baked and half-hearted, but Jesus will always seek us out and call each one of us by name, “Come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”

 

   Let ourselves be found: run ahead of others and climb a tree!

 

Anyone who is stranded on a beach will do everything possible to attract the attention of any passing plane or vessel, e.g., by building bonfire, making loud noise, or by jumping and waving along the beach.

 

Likewise, we who are lost spiritually should be ahead of others and shamelessly put ourselves at a conspicuous position so that we can be easily spotted and found by Jesus. All we need is to put in additional efforts and do something extra, for example,

    (1) Reflect, meditate and pray the Scripture readings before coming for Mass,

    (2) Come earlier for Mass to pray in silence and solitude,

    (3) Spend silent time before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament,

    (4) Go for the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) even though it is outside Seasons of Advent and Lent,

    (5) Attend a weekday Mass even though it is not a day of obligation,

    (6) Wake up earlier to pray while the world is still sleeping…

 

Yes, the next time when we are lost, let us imitate Zacchaeus – ‘run ahead of others and climb a tree’ – Jesus will surely spot us, find us and call out to us.

 

Let our fervent prayer be:

   “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me!”