Orienting to the Liturgy--The Sunday of Zacchaeus

The Sunday of Zacchaeus—Tone 8

Enarxis—We Prepare Our Hearts of Hear the Word of God

[The service for the 32nd Sunday After Pentecost (otherwise known as the Sunday of Zacchaeus) is that of the Resurrection.  Although this Sunday has no service in the Triodion it is usually considered to be the beginning of the Lenten cycle.  Next Sunday, the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican (33rd Sunday After Pentecost), is the first day to have a service in the Triodion. 

     The Sunday of Zacchaeus is named for the Gospel reading.  The Church has grown to consider it the beginning of the Lenten cycle because it begins the themes of penance and forgiveness that are continued in the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican and the Sunday of the Prodigal Son.  These themes in turn complement the themes of judgment and the just condemnation of sin that we find in Meatfare Sunday (The Sunday of the Last Judgment) and Cheesefare Sunday (The Sunday of the Expulsion from Paradise).]

           

Tropar (Tone 8)

From on high you descended, O gentle-hearted Lord.* You accepted burial for three days* so that you might free us from all suffering.* O Lord, our life and resurrection, glory to you.

[Every Sunday is like a little Pascha, as we solemnly commemorate the Mystery of the Resurrection.  In the usual service for Sunday, the Resurrection of Christ is proclaimed at dawn, during Matins, with the reading of the Resurrectional Gospel.  At the conclusion of the reading, the Gospel Book is borne into the center of the church and placed on the tetrapod surrounded by lit candles as a symbol of the Resurrected Christ. There the people come forward to kiss it.  The Gospel Book remains on the tetrapod until the end of Matins, when the priest carries it back to altar during the singing of the tropar.  All of this serves to remind us that, although we perceive Him only by faith, Christ is alive and active in our lives.  Under the weight of the distractions and cares of this world, we can forget how near Christ our God is to us, and how, even now, He is fulfilling His plan for our salvation and the salvation of the world.]

Glory… Now…

Kondak (Tone 8)

When you arose from the grace,* you lifted up all the dead.* You resurrected Adam, and Eve exults in your resurrection.* The ends of the world celebrate your rising from the dead,* O most merciful Lord.

[Christ is indeed fulfilling His plan, hopefully with our cooperation, but, if not, even in spite of our resistance.  If at this present moment “the ends of the world” do not celebrate His rising from the dead, then we can be sure that He will gently but infallibly lead them to offer that praise.  A thousand years ago, He led the nation of Rus’ to it.  In 2002, a young man in Egypt, a strict Muslim, who was being groomed for a leadership position in the Muslim Brotherhood, had dreams in which Christ came to him repeatedly, telling him that he was on the wrong path.  The young man did not even know who He was, at first.  Finally, the Lord told him, “I am Jesus Christ, your Lord and your God.”  After that, the young man went to a church to secretly convert of Christianity.  He entered the church during a service, just as the 71st Psalm was being sung, and the specific verse “and He shall live, and there shall be given to Him of the gold of Arabia; and they shall pray concerning Him continually; all the day long shall they bless Him.” The young man realized that those words were being partially, wonderfully fulfilled in him.  Because of the Resurrection of Christ, he had become precious in God’s eyes.  He had become “the gold of Arabia.”]

The Liturgy of the Word—We Hear the Word of God

Prokimen, Tone 8

Pray and give praise to the Lord, our God.

v. God is known in Judea; his name is great in Israel.

A READING FROM THE 1st LETTER OF SAINT PAUL,

THE APOSTLE, TO TIMOTHY:

My son Timothy, this saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost. But for that reason I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life. To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

 (1 Tim. 1,15-17)

[The Holy Apostle Paul refers to himself as “the greatest of sinners” because he persecuted Christ and His Church, even going so far as to cooperate in the murder of the protomartyr St. Stephen.  The Church teaches us through the lives of the saints that each of us should consider ourselves the “greatest of sinners,” since we are only really able to discern the actions of others as the will of God, while, on the other hand, we know full well the weight of malice within our own hearts.  “In your concern for the speck in your brother’s eye, did you not perceive the beam in your own?”]

Alleluia, Tone 8

Come, let us rejoice in the Lord; let us shout with joy to God, our Saviour.

v. Let us go into his presence giving thanks; let us sing psalms to Him with joy.

A READING FROM THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO

SAINT LUKE:

At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.  For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."

 (Lk. 19,1-10)

[Zacchaeus shows us the Lenten themes of repentance and forgiveness.  Zacchaeus is so delighted that the Lord Jesus will visit his house that he repents utterly and sincerely of all his sins. As a sign of his repentance, Zacchaeus announces that he will give half of his possessions to the poor, and he will make restitution to those he has wronged.  The Lord Jesus will truly visit us, now, in the Mystery of the Eucharist.  Let us show our delight in His presence by completely and sincerely repenting of all of our sins.]

The Liturgy of the Sacrifice—Together with Christ, We Offer Ourselves to the Father

[It is wonderful that in the Anaphora the Church speaks of future events as if they are already accomplished.  We pray, “You brought us from nothingness into being and, after we fell, You raised us up again. You did not cease doing everything until You lead us to heaven and granted us Your future Kingdom.”  And again, after the words of institution, we pray, “Remembering, therefore, this salutary commandment, and all that was done for us: the cross, the tomb, the resurrection on the third day, the ascension into heaven, the sitting at the right hand, and the second and glorious coming….” In this way, we remember that the Mystery of the Eucharist is the Resurrection and the promised Kingdom.  We receive it like a seed, which we desire to cultivate in our hearts (watering it with repentance), so that it grows into its fullness in glory.]

Communion verse

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest.

Alleluia (3)