Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 19, 1-10
At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.”
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
“He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
“Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over.”
And Jesus said to him,
“Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost.”
Come down quickly
1. Jesus went in. Life is dynamic, and it takes courage to choose to step in and fully participate. You can’t just watch your own life from the outside, hoping for someone else to show up and fix things for you. Take responsibility for your experiences and what’s happened to you—get involved and truly live. For example, this past Saturday, I got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception, and I’d forgotten my spare tire. I realized right then that standing still and hoping for help wasn’t an option, I needed to act before it got dark. This was especially true since I was headed to a chapel in the hills to celebrate a First Communion mass, and people were relying on me. So, when you face difficulties, don’t sit back and wait for someone to rescue you. Take initiative and act, because there are people counting on you to bring them hope and life.
2. Tax Collectors. Zacchaeus was judged and dismissed because of the label he carried. How often are we boxed in by the labels others give us, making us feel incapable of moving forward? Jesus, however, isn’t concerned about those labels—He cares about the person, not their reputation. So, learn to treat people based on who they truly are, not on what others say about them.
3. Possessions. When there is a change of heart, people change and their actions and behaviour change, too. If Jesus truly touches your heart and your life, your life naturally becomes one of service. You begin to influence others positively—even healing those you once hurt. I’ve seen this in my own life: after my conversion, I was able to help and support people I had wronged in the past. That encouraged and prompted me to keep moving forward, accepting my past mistakes, but also embracing the chance God gave me to heal and encourage those I had once wounded.
Never forget that something good is on the way!
God bless you, be with you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
