SHORT IN STATURE, TALL IN GRACE

READINGS: ALL SOULS DAY

The Gospel of this 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C, Luke 19:1–10) tells the story of a man named Zacchaeus. The Bible describes him as a man of small stature, overlooked by the crowd and dismissed by society. While the name “Zacchaeus” means “pure,” “clean,” or “innocent,” the people despised him, for he was a tax collector — an outcast, a cheat, a crook, and a traitor. No one saw holiness in him. No one expected goodness from him.

But “Shortness” here is not only about physical height. It is about the limitations, wounds, or distortions that keep us from seeing clearly, loving fully, or living freely. There is moral shortness — dishonesty, greed, exploitation, prejudice, negligence, hypocrisy. There is spiritual shortness — prayerlessness, prideful self-reliance, shallow faith, bitterness toward God, fear of surrender. And there is social shortness — the ways we fail in relationship: judging, isolating, refusing to build bridges, discriminating, condemning. The question is: What do we do when faced with our shortness?

This is where Zacchaeus becomes our mirror. He chose not to run from who he was or hid in the crowd. He chose not to let pride and fear keep him from the freedom to live again. Instead, he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a sycamore tree so that he could see and be seen by Jesus — to encounter the saving grace of God, face the truth of his life, and be transformed into a new and better self. Jesus looked up and called him by name: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” Notice this: before Zacchaeus changed anything, Jesus offered him closeness. God does not wait until we are fixed before He draws near. Rather, He comes near so that we can be changed. Grace sees the heart that climbs. Grace sees the soul that yearns. Grace sees the mind that reaches.

No matter what has become of our lives, we must remember: we are more than where we have been, how we have been, and what we have become. There is always hope for a better tomorrow. Christ can see more in me than I can see in myself. He can recognize me and call me by my name when the world prefers to call me by my shame. No matter the kind of shortness we may be dealing with right now, do not let it block your vision. Climb your tree. Reach beyond your past. And seek the face of Christ above the noise. Christ is not intimidated by our shortness. He wants to enter it and begin the work of healing and transformation. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” says the Lord. “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter and dine with him” (Rev 3:20).

Amazingly, the crowd hated that Zacchaeus was met with grace. Yes, our shortness is a source of comfort for some people — even the same people who loudly demand that we ‘do better.’ But do not be discouraged. While the world wants to remember who you were, Jesus sees who you can become and offers you hope. So, we must never allow anyone to keep us trapped in a place of shortness. The crowd tried to do that to Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus refused to stay there.

So should we.