Even though Tuesday is Election Day, I do not plan on focusing on political issues - except to encourage you to vote. I imagine most of you have made up your minds anyway and not much of what I say could make a difference. (If you haven't yet made up your mind, especially about about "minor" offices, you can get information on candidate's stands on key moral issues at: USVOTE.org.) In the future, when emotions are not so high, we will have time to reflect faithfully on the great issues that we face.

Moreover, the Archdiocese has set aside this day for a special purpose: Education Sunday for Parish Stewardship. Usually Education Sunday is the first weekend of November, but it has been advanced one week because today's Gospel offers a perfect opportunity to address the deeper meaning of Stewardship. It tells about the astonished gratitude of a man touched by Jesus - and how he made a most generous response to God's gift.

Zacchaeus, in spite of his wealth, was a very unhappy man. His job as a tax collector made decent people despise him. He was an outcast. Because of his short stature (and no doubt his fear of mingling with a crowd) he had to climb a small tree in order to see Jesus. To the little man's amazement Jesus calls him down and tells him, “I must stay at your house.” Jesus explains why he invites himself to such an unlikely home - he has come to seek and save the lost.

Zacchaeus’ amazed gratitude triggers an exuberant response, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor.” He also admits having defrauded others and resolves to make amends. Here we see the essence of stewardship: gratitude, humility, generosity.

I wonder if we recognize the gifts God has given us, especially the great gift of Jesus’ saving love. At the International Eucharistic Congress, Cardinal Ricardo Vidal told a touching story about a priest who recognized that unparalleled gift. A young priest from Cebu attended the 1995 papal Mass in Manila. The Mass was most impressive – some five million people, the largest single gathering of human beings, ever.* Participating in this event deeply moved the young priest, but at the end of Mass he had an even more overwhelming experience. He realized the Mass he celebrates in his small village is the same Mass – the same Jesus truly present in the Eucharist.

Do we appreciate that greatest of all gifts – Jesus’ real and saving presence in the Eucharist? If so, like Zacchaeus, we cannot help but respond with humility and generosity. Lord, all that I possess – my energy, my time, my health, my abilities, my opportunities, my relationships, my finances – they are really not mine. It all comes from you. And you have given me a gift which excels everything else – your desire to come to me and stay with me. Help me, like Zacchaeus, to forget about myself and to respond to you with generosity.

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