passing people like trees.—Mark 8:22-26. This is how we see each other

Other. Rarely, rarely do we miraculously get away from ourselves and see

man as he is. And we see what it is in two ways. On the one hand,

On the other hand, we see in him the image of God, his eternal indelible beauty, on the other hand,

We see, sometimes with pain and horror, how this image is desecrated and

disfigured, as if we were looking at an icon that has been disfigured,

deprived of its primeval beauty and glory.

The second Sunday reminds us of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). He was looking for

to see Christ. We do not know what prompted him, but it was hardly simple curiosity,

because it would not allow him to endure the ridicule of the people around him.

Imagine: a rich and well-known person living in a small town,

but small in stature, he suddenly, like a boy, climbs a tree. How many

There was ridicule around him! But it was so important for Zacchaeus to see Christ, even though

to look into His face, that He has neglected all this and has conquered vanity without

some kind of feat, struggle, but complete indifference to what they can say about him

people to think, it was so important for him, so necessary to contemplate

Savior. And he saw Him. Of all the crowd, Christ noticed only Zacchaeus,

for he, by his striving towards Him, has conquered in himself all fear of

people, every false shame, endured ridicule, mockery, — just to see

Christ. And Christ called him and stayed in his house.

Vanity, as St. John of the Ladder says, is impudence before