First Reading
Wisdom 11:22-12:2

Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook people’s sins that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? But you spare all things, because they are yours, O LORD and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things! Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!

Second Reading
2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2

Brothers and sisters: We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ. We ask you, brothers and sisters, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit, ” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.

Gospel Cycle Cycle C
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 all 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.”

Today’s readings invite us to reflect on our relationship with God and God’s love and mercy in our lives. We are encouraged to know God more each day and to know God’s presence with us.

The first reading, from the Book of Wisdom, is a reflection on the human condition and on what the author believes about God. God has mercy on all of us. God does not want us to die or to perish in our sins. Rather, God wants to forgive us. It is this realization that God wants to forgive us that can help us acknowledge who we are before God.

The Book of Wisdom is pretty blunt about our human condition: we want God but we often don’t want God enough to seek only God and not seek out only our own pleasure, joy and satisfaction. It is important to pay attention here, because there is nothing totally wrong with pleasure, joy and satisfaction! Jesus does not come to teach us that human life is basically bad! Instead, Jesus comes to tell us that we are loved—and this is also the message of the Book of Wisdom.

We see this same message repeated in the Gospel. Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus and then wants to follow Jesus. This is such a wonderful account in the Gospel. Because Zacchaeus is short, he needs to find a way to get higher. He is humble and simple enough to climb a tree! And Jesus invites himself to dine with Zacchaeus.

Today we can ask if we are as simple and humble as Zacchaeus? Are we so interested in Jesus Christ that we are willing to be a bit foolish in our following of him? Can we really trust Jesus that much? And are we willing to risk being misunderstood by others and perhaps even being judged harshly by them?

Sometimes, perhaps, we are like the grumblers in the Gospel and doubt that some others really are serving the Lord. Or we have fairly fixed ideas about what makes a person a sinner. Always, Jesus invites us to love every other person and never to judge them. Even when the other person may do something that is clearly wrong and even evil, we never know what is making that person do such an act. Instead, we are invited always to presume the best.

Jesus invitation to follow His way of living is an invitation to change the way that we live. In order to follow Jesus, we must begin by changing our own vision of what real life is about. We must recognize that real life is about loving others and not about getting our own personal pleasure, joy and happiness. Again, we need to remember that there is nothing totally wrong about pleasure, joy and happiness. On the other hand, if getting our own pleasure, joy and happiness is our goal in life, then we have missed the teachings of our Lord Jesus.

Let us take a few moments today and look honestly at our own lives. Let us renew our commitment to Jesus and to following what he taught us. Let us rejoice in God’s love and forgiveness and learn how to love and forgive one another. Blessed be God for ever.