From LK 19: 1- 10 (Ordinary time)
Today's reading is one of the popular readings that even if one is not a regular reader of the bible, will not miss it. Zacchaeus! A short and senior tax collector! Since in Stockholm the daily masses are celebrated in Swedish , I usually carry my bible with me, so that I can follow the mass during the liturgy of the word. Unfortunately, I didn't check what would be the Gospel reading today, but since I knew the one for a previous day, I made a guess. Well, I waited for the Priest to start reading and immediately I catched it. Thank you Jesus!
If one has to write about today's gospel, books and books might not be enough, that being the case therefore, I will put down few comments which speak lauder to me and perhaps to many other. Basically, I have set two parts which provide on one hand, a beautiful insight which sets as the base of the story and on the other, is the the way forward.
The first part recounts who Zacchaeus is, and how he encountered Jesus Christ (Perhaps it is also a good way to examine ourselves; "who we are" and our daily encounter with Christ"
"...Suddenly a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance; he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man. He kept trying which Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd; so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way." (Lk 19: 2- 4) Isn't that beautiful?
Zacchaeus knew his weaknesses, most of which were accorded to him by human standards yet still, He ran forth to get at least a glimpse of Jesus. It's sad that we spend much of our times trying to figure out what people sees in us, at times, even crying that we are not like A or B. It's beautiful to think that God does not think in our eyes but His divine love and the splendour of his unfathomable mercy. If we could only strive to see a "a glimpse of him" in our daily lives, we would gladly walk with Psalm 23 in our minds at every minute we breath in and out.
"O Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing. I
In grassy meadows he lets me lie". (Psalm 23: 1- 2)
How Sweet it is !
It should be noted that what Zacchaeus needed was only "the glimpse of Jesus", but Let's see the reaction of Jesus on the second part;
"When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke at him, 'Zacchaeus' ,come down, Hurry, because I'm to stay at your house today"
How many times do we lament about unheard prayers? One person once commented "I don't doubt that God exists, but I doubt if he knows I exist" How sad! Today's Gospel is calling us to realise how much God doesn't miss a point in our lives. He knows every thing concerning us, not only our worries and happiness, but even the little things that we think they are of no value. Everything matters to him. Even if we have a loose button in our shirts, he cares. O how wonderful God is! Even the Psalmist support this account when he says
" Yahweh, you examine me and know me, you know when I sit, when I rise, you understand my thoughts from a far. You watch when I walk or lie down, you know every detail of my conduct. A word is not yet on my tongue before you, Yahweh, know all about it...Where shall I go to escape your spirit?" Ps 139: 1-4, 7b)
These words spoke directly to me and I could not help wondering how Sweet Jesus is looking up at me saying "Little Flock come down.. hurry". I believe that eyes are the lamp of the soul as well as the heart . The way someone makes the face- by showing emotions-, is in most cases contributed by what the person feels inside, and would more or less express the same, through the eyes. When Jesus stopped and talked to him, how you think Zachaeus' face looked like? One may wish to create a kind of face decorated with the shy but yet bright eyes. I'm convinced that his whole face was full of joy and smile. Had it not been for the intervention of the Good Lord himself, probably Zacchaeus would have fallen down out of shock. (oops!) But another thing reminds me of constant calls from the Lord wishing to come to our houses and the question still remain; how do we respond? If we look at the book of Revelation;
"Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and open the door, I will come in to share the meal at that person's side" (Rev 3: 20).
Zacchaeus as well as you and me, could choose to remain up there yet still, He went down joyfully. I can clearly see that some of us tend to stay on top of the TREE or whatever it might be, without rushing down to welcome our Lord. He says "Hurry.." If we recall how our blessed Mother received the news from the Angel, St Luke writes of how Mary visited her aunt Elisabeth.
He says,
"Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into a hill country to a town in Judah." (Lk 1: 39)
Christus spes nostra (Christ Yesterday, today and for ever)
In simple put, Let's strive to see his glimpse, once he calls, lets rush down in humility.
All done in Love
Piccola- Marie of the Eucharist.
No comments:
Post a Comment