In this week’s Gospel reading, Zacchaeus, a tax collector, humbles himself by creating a spectacle and climbing a tree so he can see Jesus as he passes through town. Jesus calls to him in the tree and tells him he will stay with him for that night, news that Zacchaeus receives with joy. Others in the crowd grumble, however, because tax collectors were often considered sinners, and they were surprised that Jesus would eat with one. Meanwhile, Zacchaeus repents over dinner, promising to give away half of his possessions to the poor, to which Jesus responds: “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

The lesson here is that it doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done: if you repent and open the door of your heart and home to Jesus, salvation will be given to you. Making strangers feel welcome and generously sharing what we have with others is one of the central values of our Catholic faith. This is true for the wealthy tax collector Zacchaeus, as well as for people who have very little, such as the impoverished people we serve around the world. When we visit their communities, it is humbling to be welcomed so warmly into their homes.

We have been thinking a lot about homes lately. When Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti, tin roofs were torn off homes, and some homes were just swept away. Some nearby survivors made their way to the Bishop Joseph Sullivan Center for Health, a hospital we are building in the south of Haiti. Although still under construction, it was designed to withstand powerful storms, and it proved it was up to the task during the hurricane’s fury. Although originally conceived as part of a plan to provide long-term healthcare solutions in one of the poorest communities on earth, we’re grateful to realize that the hospital will also be instrumental in providing short term relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

Thanks to your generosity, we’ve already raised enough money to ensure that 2,810 families have received recovery kits with food, water purification tablets, and hygiene supplies. The purifying tablets are especially important as the possibility of a widespread cholera outbreak looms. Isolated outbreaks of the deadly disease have already been reported.

If you are able, will you open the door to your heart and help us reach our goal of reaching 6,000 families with recovery kits, so we can protect these survivors from the perils of drinking unsafe water from systems that were damaged or destroyed during the storm?

Learn more about helping vulnerable communities in Haiti.

*Today’s reflection is inspired by and adapted from the Loyola Press Sunday Connection