31st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
October 30, 2022
There is something inside of us that likes to root for the underdog. The bible is also filled with the “little guys” winning: the tiny teenager David defeats the Giant Goliath.
The Hebrew slaves defeat the armies of Pharoah.
Sampson defeats the Phillistine.
Elijah and the 500 prophets of Ba’al.
Then there is the little, short Zacchaeus in today’s Gospel reading. He climbs a tree due to the crowd. There is a very important spiritual point that we can learn from Zacchaeus’ stature or lack thereof.

Most of us in this life will not come up with some huge invention. Or solve some big problem that affects thousands of lives.
We cannot all be heroes in a parade. Some of us have to sit on the sidelines and wave as the parade goes by.
And, it is preciously here we can attain holiness. The secret is to do the small, little, ordinary things of life in an extraordinary way. This is the spiritual lesson we find in St. Theresa of Liseux. This Saint who died at the age of 24 did nothing extraordinary. No ecstasies, no revelations, no modifications. In fact, her whole life can be summed up – she loved God in all the ordinary actions of common life, performing them with great faithfulness.
Her teaching is called The Little Way. The little way is an attitude, a disposition of heart. It’s a way of accepting and reciprocating God’s love available in all life’s experiences.

This is where each one of us comes in. In our quest for Holiness, we don’t need anything fancy, but to live the ordinary aspects of our life in an extraordinary way. It is lending a hand – helping someone. As a mother/grandmother, as a father/grandfather taking a stand – loving your wife as yourself. Showing your sons how to treat their mother. It is the little things – practicing good manners. People respond positively to manners. Manners can change to habits.
This is the spiritual point, we learn from the small, little Zacchaeus: that the measure of a man is not found in the glitter on the outside, but by the gold on the inside.