Daily Reflection – 11/4/19
Sacred Scripture
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19: 1-10)
Reflection
Zacchaeus had heard about this great man who was coming his way. Interest had been sparked, but he was still a by-stander like many today who have heard the word and not lived it. He could have easily stayed among the crowd and have not got the chance to even see him – but he chose to go, quite literally, above and beyond. He got out of his comfort zone for Christ and was rewarded with the gift of purity of heart
Just as Zacchaeus searched Jesus out, so must we. Why? Because of the gift that awaits us. As far as Jesus is concerned – as the Gospel shows – no one is unworthy of, or far from, his thoughts. No one is insignificant. He loves all of us with a special love; for him all of us are important: you are important! God counts on you for what you are, not for what you possess. He doesn’t care whether you are stylish or not; wealthy or not; he cares about you! In his eyes, you are precious, and your value is inestimable.
And the other side of that gift is that God remains faithful, even obstinate, in his love for us. The fact is, he loves us even more than we love ourselves. He believes in us even more than we believe in ourselves. He is always “cheering us on”; he is our biggest fan. He is there for us, waiting with patience and hope, even when we turn in on ourselves and brood over our troubles and past injuries. But negativity or being down on ourselves closes doors and prevents us from getting up and starting over. God, on the other hand, is hopelessly hopeful! He believes that we can always get up, and he hates to see us glum and gloomy. Because we are always his beloved sons and daughters.
Jesus is saying to come down quickly because he wants to stay at your house today, Jesus wants to stay with you. Is your heart ready to receive Jesus? We see from Zacchaeus that just the slightest turning toward Jesus is rewarded many times more by Jesus. We may sometimes put limits on God’s goodness and love and mercy like the people of Jericho but God’s goodness and love and mercy toward us is infinite if we just come down off our tree and invite Jesus to our heart.
Prayer of The Day
Lord, I thank you for loving me; help me to be in love with my own life!” Not with my faults, that need to be corrected, but with life itself, which is a great gift, for it is a time to love and to be loved.
Daily Note
Will you come down from your tree, abandon sin, and invite Jesus to your heart? Jesus knows you are seeking him today, like Zacchaeus, and Jesus is looking at you, saying to you he wants to stay with you. Will you, like Zacchaeus, abandon anything that may be keeping you apart from Jesus, and then enjoy even more of Jesus in your life? Jesus wants to meet you today. Jesus doesn’t want you to come here just to fulfill a Sunday obligation or simply because you know Jesus wants you here, but Jesus wants to meet you here and stay with you for the rest of this week. Will you come down from your tree, abandon sin, and invite Jesus to your heart and allow him stay with you for the rest of this week?
