November 2, 2025
Revised Common Lectionary
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 or Isaiah 1:10-18
Psalm 119:137-144 or Psalm 32:1-7
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Luke 19:1-10
Lectionary for Mass (RC)
The Roman Catholic Lectionary offers a wide selection of Scripture readings for today’s Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls).
In the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church and some other churches, today is observed as the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls). Some other churches customarily transfer the Feast of All Saints to the first Sunday of November. The following reflection is based on the Revised Common Lectionary readings for the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 26), Year C.
During this past year, the Sunday Lectionary has been walking us through the Gospel of Luke. Many of the stories that we have heard are found only in Luke, including the prodigal son, the good Samaritan, and the shepherds at Bethlehem. Today we get yet another story that’s unique to Luke: in just ten verses, one of the most charming and surprisingly profound encounters in the entire New Testament.
In today’s Gospel reading, we meet the tax collector Zacchaeus, who was “short in stature” (Lk 19:3), someone accustomed to being treated as different and looked down on. Most of us can probably relate to being made to feel less than, to being the object of ridicule. As a young gay kid, I certainly felt that vulnerability—but unlike Zacchaeus, I could hide behind the closet door.
When he heard that Jesus would be coming through, Zacchaeus decided that instead of being left out, he would run ahead and climb a sycamore tree, where he could catch a glimpse. As Jesus passed by, rather than looking down on Zacchaeus as people had done his entire life, he instead looked up at him in that tree. Not only did he accept Zacchaeus just as he was, but he sought him out, calling him by name. Anyone who’s ever been overlooked in a pickup game—or picked dead last—can surely relate to what Zacchaeus must have felt.
Of course, Zacchaeus’s isolation involved much more than his stature. He wasn’t just a tax collector—he was the chief tax collector for the Jericho region. He was among the most despised persons in town—colluding with the hated Romans and treating his own people dishonestly in order to enrich himself. Jesus looked past all of that as well, inviting himself to stay at Zacchaeus’ home. As might be expected, the bystanders began to grumble, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner” (Lk 19:7). While Jesus looked up at Zacchaeus, the crowd was busy looking down on him—in every sense of the word.
Jesus replied to their criticism by restating an overarching theme of Luke’s Gospel, that “the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost” (Lk 19:10). If they had been paying attention, they would have remembered that Jesus was constantly talking and acting in favor of those who were lost, last, and least. Think about his parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Think about his many dinners with others who were regarded as sinners. Jesus clearly relished his relationships with those regarded by others as outcasts—and he told stories about people who threw parties to celebrate finding the lost.
Zacchaeus was not only a short person regarded by the religious mainstream as a sinner—he was rich. Although Jesus frequently warned against the dangers of wealth, he sought out this rich man who likely had acquired much of his wealth dishonestly. Zacchaeus was changed by his encounter with Jesus, pledging to give away pretty much everything he had: “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much” (Lk 19:8). There wouldn’t be much if anything left of his wealth after fulfilling that promise.
Jesus did not wait for Zacchaeus to clean up his act before beginning the celebration. It was actually the other way around. Zacchaeus was transformed by meeting someone who looked up at this short man in a tree, called him by name, and invited himself to stay at his home. His conversion flowed from and was made possible by his encounter with Jesus. That pattern pretty well sums up the way that Luke presents the ministry of Jesus throughout the Gospel. Jesus extended the compassionate love of God lavishly and without preconditions—even to a short, dishonest rich man!
Just as he called Zacchaeus by name, Jesus reaches out to us in our places of vulnerability, weakness, and sin. And he’s passed on to us that same generous, risky, over-the-top ministry: seeking out the outcast, looking up when others look down, calling people by name instead of reducing them to labels. Extending God’s compassionate love lavishly and without preconditions—even to short, dishonest rich men in trees. Even to us.
A Hymn for Today: “Will you come and follow me”
One of the most extraordinary aspects of today’s Gospel story is the way in which Jesus calls Zacchaeus by name in an encounter that would turn the tax collector’s life inside out. This hymn text, also called “The Summons,” was created by John Bell, FHS, and Graham Maule, both members of the Iona Community (Scotland). It reflects Bell’s vision for the community as “a place where the potentials of the socially marginalized as well as the socially successful would be attested.” In today’s Gospel story, we see how Jesus looked beyond Zacchaeus’ stature, wealth, and social standing—calling his name and inviting him to a life he could never have imagined.
John Bell arranged the traditional Scottish tune KELVINGROVE (named for a section of Glasgow) to be sung with this text. Click here to listen to a recording of this hymn, sung by the Cathedral Singers and conducted by John Bell.
Will you come and follow me
If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
And never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
Will you let me name be known,
Will you let my life be grown
In you and you in me?
Will your leave yourself behind
If I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
And never be the same?
Will your risk the hostile stare
Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer
In you and you in me?
Will you let the blinded see
If I but call your name?
Will you set the pris’ners free
And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,
And do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean
In you and you in me?
Will you love the “you” you hide
If I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
And never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found
To reshape the world around,
Through my sight and touch and sound
In you and you in me.
Lord, your summons echoes true
When you but call my name,
Let me turn and follow you
And never be the same.
In your company I’ll go
Where your love and footsteps show,
Thus I’ll move and live and grow
In you and you in me.
Text: John L. Bell, b. 1949 and Graham Maule, 1958-2019, © 1987, Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc., agent. Used by permission under OneLicense #A-729857
Tune: KELVINGROVE
Image Credit: Christ Speaks to Zacchaeus, William Hole, 1846-1917
“Word and Song: A Lectionary Reflection” is written by the Executive Director of The Hymn Society, Rev. Dr. Mike McMahon. For his full bio, click here and scroll down to the “staff” section.
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