Word of the Week

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Seek: Zeteo (Gk.): meaning, “to seek in order to find; to crave”. It can also mean “to seek in order to find by thinking, meditating, and reasoning”. In addition, this term conveys the demanding of something from someone.

As there are copious amounts of material in the Catechism on the need to seek God, the underlining significance of the word seek(ing) is captured in St. Anselms’s classic definition of theology: “Faith seeking understanding”. The Catechism sums it up beautifully early on in the opening section of Part One: The Profession of Faith. It states: “It is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. The grace of faith opens "the eyes of your hearts" (Eph.1:18) to a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God's plan and the mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the centre of the revealed mystery… " (CCC, 158). Essentially, God has etched Himself into our very hearts (cf. 1718), and the more we come to love God the more we come to love him unceasingly. 

The term zeteo can be found over one-hundred times in the New Testament. While this term taps into a great number of motifs and themes throughout the NT, this particular teaching bulletin will focus in on the overarching points that come to us from this Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time in the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus.

First, to understand the story of Zacchaeus, we must look beyond his height and into his pocket book. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, and as a head publican, a very wealthy man. As Luke records it, a rich man who was willing to share his wealth with the poor (cf. Lk.19:1-10). Note, it was just the previous chapter that we read of the Rich Man who was unable to share his money because his heart was tied to material possessions. In the case of the Rich man in chapter eighteen, he was not saved (Lk.18:18-23). In the case of Zacchaeus, he was saved as our Lord invited himself into his house. In fact, the idea of seeking Christ as Zacchaeus was seeking Christ is topical to the gospel of Luke. From the people seeking Jesus while he was preaching in the synagogue of Judea (Lk.4:42-44) to the people from Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre, Sidon seeking out Christ to be healed (Lk.6:19), Christ was being sought out for healing. Furthermore, the story of Zacchaeus seeking Christ is met with paradox in that it was Christ seeking Zacchaeus. This is a great lesson in our faith. Christ seeks to saves the lost (cf. the “lost and found” parables from chapter 15: The Lost Sheep; The Lost Coin; The Lost Son), we just need to open our eyes to the ways in which he reveals himself to us and reciprocate love. Essentially, Christ’s message to us is clear: seek to persevere in prayer and you will be able to overcome the spiritual trials of life and walk through the narrow gate (cf. Lk.11:9-10; 13:22-30; Rom.2:7). 

Today’s subject matter touches upon a most salient truth regarding the spiritual life: the need to search for God in all persons, places, and things. This calls for an understanding of prayer as constant courtship with God (cf. wow on prayer). The capacity to be present to God in all things starts with conversing with God in all things; a communication that opens us up to viewing each moment as a moment unto God.  Ultimately, this around-the-clock transformation gives momentum to a spirituality of other-centeredness (cf. 1 Cor.10:24). Such unselfishness fends off the adversary and brings us closer to the heart of Christ. Essentially, to seek the face of Christ in every encounter is at the very heart of our Christian vocation.  

“The charity of truth seeks holy leisure, the necessity of charity accepts just work.”
--St. Augustine

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