Tuesday November 21, 2017
“Vox populi, vox dei” (the voice of the people is the voice of God) is not always true. As Kierkegaard wisely observed, a crowd can be untruth. A crowd can drown out the voice of God and prevent you from glimpsing God. We are told in the Gospel: that Zaccheus could not see Jesus “because of the crowd.” He had to stand apart from the crowd and climb a tree, in order to have a glimpse of Jesus as he passed by.
We may have to stand apart from the crowd if we want to see God. We may have to climb a tree—the wood of the Cross—to be with God. Standing apart and climbing the tree can be sometimes inconvenient, as it was in the case of Zaccheus. It can be frightening and cost you your life, as it was in the case of Eleazar in the Book of Maccabees. But the rewards are great. If Eleazar went to dine with God in the Resurrection, Zaccheus got to play host to Jesus in his home!
You are set apart by God. Can you stand apart from the crowd and stand up for God?