Throughout my years of school, I was always one = of the shortest people in my class. Even as a priest I sometimes find that my= altar servers are bigger than I am. I try to look at the bright side. I= can buy clothes cheaper in boyswear than in menswea= r, and it doesn’t take me as long to shower as other people need. I used to advocate that taller peo= ple should form an organization called Height Watchers to overcome their problems. But being short has= its shortcomings: for example, I am always the last one to find out it’s raining.&n= bsp; A lot of short adults make up for their height by talking in a loud voice, as if the ears of taller people are so far away they can’t hear you unless you shout. Childre= n all know this problem; they can’t see what’s going on the way big people can, and when you’re short others overlook you and act as if y= ou don’t count.

The patron saint of the vertically challenged is Zacchaeus, the tax collector who appears only in Luke’s gospel and on= ly in this story. Most people ̵= 1; especially children – remember Zacchaeus because he was short and bec= ause he climbed a tree. He has oth= er virtues, and Luke points these out, but they are as easily overlooked as Zacchaeus himself.

For example, Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus. We don’t know why. It might have been simple curiosit= y, but it was probably something more. He surely wanted to see Jesus with the eyes of faith, but he first had to see him with the eyes in his face. He was seeking Jesus, but he did not know that Jesus was also seeking him. Jesus says at the end of todayR= 17;s gospel that he came to seek and to save what was lost.

And it does appear that Zacchaeus had been lost. He was a tax collector,= so he earned a living by cheating people out of the money they thought they were paying as a tax. He offers to= repay any of his extortions four times over, and he promises to give half his possessions to the poor. Zacc= haeus was a wealthy man, and he obtained his wealth in= evil ways. But Jesus came to save = what was lost, and Zacchaeus becomes one of the most generous men in Jericho.

If you ever feel spiritually short, if you ever = want to see more of Jesus, there are two lessons to be learned. First, you may have to climb a tree. You may have to do some= thing a little unusual in order to get the view you want; you might have to go someplace different or allow yourself to be ridiculed by others.=

And second, once you do see Jesus, be prepared.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He may inspire you to be more hono= rable than you intended. You may st= art giving more to the poor and making up for past offenses. Seeing more of Jesus requires effo= rt before and after. But he will= help. All the time that we are trying to= get a better look at him, he is already trying to get a better look at us.

And now I’m happy to follow this piece of advice about public speaking: “Whatever you say, = be short.”