I watch more sports than I should. Honestly, I enjoy watching them all. It’s a thing of beauty when a baseball infield puts the shift on and the heavy hitting batter pulls the ball within reach of the 2nd basemen for an easy out. When a quarterback appears to have thrown a pass directly toward the free safety and he easily picks it off, I am impressed. When a strong forward kicks the ball out to the hot handed guard and he nails the long 3 pointer from the corner, I cheer. When the center wins a face off and the puck goes directly to the defensemen who blisters a shot to the upper corner of the net past the goalie, I wonder “How did they do that?”
The answer is almost always, “They were in position.”
Talent, practice, coaching, and hard work are all well and good, but the most immediate cause of a great play is that the player was in position. They were in the right place, at the right time. Sometimes, I suppose positioning is luck, and maybe those plays make the highlights. However, when a player is in position it gives him or her a better chance for success.
In our gospel this weekend we hear the familiar story of Zacchaeus who climbs a tree to see Jesus. The story doesn’t start with a big confession or tremendous conversion (that’s how it ends). No, the story starts with Zacchaeus putting himself in a position to see Jesus.
Scripture says that Zacchaeus was short in stature, and so to see Jesus he had to climb that tree. The fact that Zacchaeus put himself in position to see Jesus made the story possible. Only then does Jesus call to him and invite himself over for dinner. Only then does a conversation ensue during which Zacchaeus repents and seeks to make restitution.
Woody Allen is credited with saying, “80% of success is just showing up.” I think that is true for Zacchaeus and probably us too. So the question about our faith is, are we putting ourselves in a position to encounter Jesus?
What does it mean for you to be in a position to be close to Jesus? When was the last time you went out of your way to see Jesus?
LIVE it:
Here are three ways to put yourself in a position to see Jesus:
- Get out of bed – when your alarm goes off, get out of bed and make the sign of the cross. That simple 4 second prayer will put you in a position to start your day with God.
- Kneel when you pray – okay, this one is going to be awkward the first time you try it. When I was a kid I used to kneel every night to say my prayers. Why did I stop? Try this again.
- Go to Mass – If you don’t go every week, try going every Sunday for a month. If you go every Sunday, try adding a weekday Mass. When you are at HNOJ for Mass, you are in a position to encounter Christ.
HNOJ Good Word 