In chapter 19 of Saint Luke’s Gospel, there is a story about about Jesus coming to the town of Jericho. Everyone had heard about Him and they all wanted to see him, so there was a bit of a crowd. One of the people was a tax-collector called Zacchaeus; he was not so popular in the town but, like everyone else, he wanted to see Jesus. He was not tall enough to see over the crowd, so he climbed up a Sycamore tree to get a better view. Jesus called to him in the sycamore tree and said he wanted to visit Zacchaeus at home. The conversation they had changed his life forever.
In 2014, a group of students in London got together with Father Stephen Wang, their university priest, to find out how to make Christianity more accessible to other students. To cut a long story short, what they came up with was a set of films, which have now been re-done more ‘professionally’ and they are at the heart of a whole programme designed to help people think about life and faith. They called it Sycamore after the tree Zacchaeus climbed to see Jesus: it was the perfect image of something that helps people to get a wider perspective on Jesus and all that He offers us.
Sometimes people watch the Sycamore films alone at home, but it seems to work better when people gather to watch a film and talk about it later, perhaps with a coffee or a soft drink and cake! In some parishes, the Sycamore films are part of preparing to receive the sacraments, like baptism or confirmation or Holy Communion. The films can help us to learn more about our faith or to reassure us that we are ‘on the right track’.
The Sycamore programme on the web at sycamore.fm in English, Dansk, Nederlands, Français, Lietuvių, Norsk, Polski, Português, Español, Svenska or Tiếng Việt – sorry no Føroyskt or Tagalog yet! Why not have a look at it? If you would like to explore it with others, tell one of the sisters, Deacon Christian or Father Peter.
Watch Sycamore Films (20 Sessions) HERE – click on CC at right of the bar at the bottom of the video to get subtitles in the language of your choice!
For more more information: What is Sycamore?