Sunday Gospel Reflection, November 3, 2019: The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost...

The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost…

Are there limits to God’s love?

  God made everything out of love; love is the reason for everything created; love brought all into existence. Indeed, God’s imperishable spirit is in all things!  And so, as the Book of Wisdom assures us, God loves all things that are and loathes nothing that God has made.  We, like God, hope for final, perfect union when all that God has loved will come together in the Lord, and thus God has mercy on all, seeing our sin yet looking beyond it so that we can heal.  The Lord’s love is the binding force that connects us to all things, even when we don’t want to be, even when we don’t think we are.  Psalm 145 reminds us that grace, mercy, kindness and compassion are all manifestations of God, and so we must praise God’s name forever. 

  In Luke's Gospel, the chief tax collector Zacchaeus is open to these truths when he knows that Jesus is passing through Jericho.  Because of his profession, no one likes Zacchaeus – he is considered by many to be out of the fold, not a child of Israel or Abraham.  Consequently, when Jesus arrives, no one is willing to let Zacchaeus through, so he is forced to climb a tree to see the Lord.  Jesus, however, seeks Zacchaeus out:  Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.  Following the divine model described in the Book of Wisdom, Jesus has come to seek and to save what is lost, and so he overlooks Zacchaeus’ sins, drawing him back into the fold:  this man too is a descendent of Abraham, Jesus says.

   It is not up to us to decide if someone is out of God’s grace – God loves everything God has created, even Zacchaeus.  And, having been received by Jesus, Zacchaeus is perhaps now, as Paul writes to the Thessalonians, worthy of his calling so that God might bring to fulfillment in him every good purpose and every effort of faith.  May we all be so worthy!

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, October 30, 2016: Today I must stay at your house!

 Today I must stay at your house… 

 God is pursuing you!  Are you prepared to invite him in? 

   From time immemorial, God is a God of covenant, characterized as gracious and merciful and kind, compassionate and faithful and holy, according to Psalm 145.  In our moments of failure, God offers support and encouragement; in our times of sin, the Book of Wisdom assures us, God has mercy on all and overlooks people’s sins that they may repent.  Why?  Because God seeks relationship with humankind; having created all, loving all things, God does all God can to help us past our sinfulness through the grace of repentance so that we might live with him always.

   The tax collector Zacchaeus certainly knows what it means to move past his sinfulness and into right relationship with Jesus.  In Luke's Gospel, Zacchaeus is drawn to Jesus; he even climbs a tree so he can see Jesus as he passes by.  But Jesus, to his surprise, seeks relationship with him; Jesus overlooks Zacchaeus’ past, pursuing him so that salvation can come to Zacchaeus’ house.  And Zacchaeus, for his part, is thrilled that Jesus is pursuing him; he is prepared to invite Jesus in and offer him every hospitality:  he receives Jesus with joy!

   God is pursuing us… but to what end?  Paul’s Second Letter toTimothy suggests that, from a position of right relationship with God, we show that we are worthy of his calling, ready to respond, to make every effort of faith, that God might be glorified.  God is unfolding God’s plan before our very eyes, pursuing a relationship with us, looking past our sin, loving us beyond all telling.  Are we prepared to respond and invite him in?

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  Wordle