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On the last Sunday of October 2022, our faith community celebrated the Feast of Sint Kwinten according to annual custom. Father Juan Carlos sscc presided over the Eucharist, assisted by Deacon Eric sj, in a well-filled church. At the start of the celebration the children carried candles to the statue of Sint Kwinten, and we listened to the Word of God.
The story of the short but unjust Zacchaeus was very moving. He desperately wants to see Jesus and sets out to climb a fig tree. So he makes a great effort to be able to see this special man from Nazareth; and indeed he sees him, and he, the well-known sinner, is seen by Jesus himself, who then asks him warmly, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must be a guest in your house.” Zacchaeus encounters Jesus and restores what he has unjustly taken from others. Then he truly becomes Zacchaeus because his name means “pure, clean, righteous.”
Fr. Juan Carlos asked in his homily: Do we ask Jesus to come to our homes; and, when we forget again, do we ask again?
Likewise Sint Kwinten, who, as the son of a Roman senator, converted to Jesus, was allowed to come to his home; and he became a missionary in the then-Gaul, where he later died a martyr’s death. So Sint Kwinten could truly pray along with Psalm 145: “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.”
After the celebration, there was lingering conversation over the delicious dishes that so many had brought.
Thanks to all who made this celebration an inspiring patronal feast.
