Tuesday, November 17, 2026 — Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Zacchaeus
Luke 19:1-10
The Gospel
Jesus enters Jericho, and Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector and a rich man, climbs a tree to see him, because he is short of stature. Jesus looks up, tells him he will stay at his house, and Zacchaeus receives him with joy. At the crowd’s murmuring, Zacchaeus promises half his goods to the poor and fourfold restitution to those he cheated. Jesus declares that salvation has come to that house today, for the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.
Readings of the day: First Reading: Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22; Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5; Alleluia: 1 John 4:10b; Gospel: Luke 19:1-10.
Reflection
Zacchaeus only wants to see Jesus, so he climbs a tree. Jesus does more than he asked: he invites himself to his house. Salvation comes to that house not when Zacchaeus feels sorry, but when his encounter bears fruit: half his goods to the poor, fourfold restitution to those he cheated. St. Ambrose teaches that guilt attaches not to the goods themselves, but to those who know not how to use them; riches can hinder virtue in the unworthy and advance it in the good. And as the Pseudo-Chrysostom homily says, Christ came to heal, not to judge, and so he is the constant guest of those that are sick. The crowd murmurs that Jesus eats with a sinner; Jesus answers by seeking and saving what was lost. No one is too far gone to climb the tree, and no house is too compromised for the Lord to enter, if the door is opened and the fruit follows.
From the Fathers
“Let the rich learn that guilt attaches not to the goods themselves, but to those who know not how to use them. For riches, as they are hindrances to virtue in the unworthy, so are they means of advancing it in the good.”
— St. Ambrose, in the Catena Aurea on Luke 19:1–10
“For I came to heal, not to judge, therefore am I the constant guest of those that are sick, and I suffer their noisomeness that I may supply remedies.”
— Pseudo-Chrysostom, Homily on the Blind Man and Zacchaeus, in the Catena Aurea on Luke 19:1–10
Saint of the day
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (1207–1231), daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and wife of Louis IV of Thuringia. After her husband’s early death she became a Franciscan tertiary, built a hospital at Marburg, and spent herself caring for the poor and the sick. She died at twenty-four.
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Sources: the day’s readings follow the daily lectionary (USCCB, Lectionary 498). The Gospel text is not reproduced here; read it at the link above. Patristic quotes: Catena Aurea on Luke 19:1–10, compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by John Henry Newman (1841, public domain).