Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke - TopicsExpress

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 19:1-10. November 19,2013 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 to him, 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. REFLECTION: Today salvation has come to this house. (Luke 19:9) If you had a free weekend, would you spend it in a cemetery attending a retreat called “Exercise for a Happy Death”? Believe it or not, St. John Bosco would lead retreats just that like every month for students and members of his religious order in Turin, Italy. And yes, he would often have the retreat in a cemetery! These exercises included an examination of conscience, a time for meditation, Confession, and a series of prayers and litanies. Bosco felt that thinking about our death from time to time would help us to understand how we should live here and now. The exercise served as a monthly reminder for people to take an inventory of barriers to their eternal happiness so that they could tear those barriers down. In today’s Gospel reading, Zacchaeus was shaken out of his everyday path of life when Jesus called him down from the tree. Recognizing that his dishonest dealings were barriers to real happiness, he repented of his past and publicly promised to pay a generous retribution to those he had defrauded. Moved by the firmness of Zacchaeus’ intentions, Jesus made a bold declaration: “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9). The obstacles were removed, Zacchaeus’ heart was softened, and all the onlookers got a glimpse of what it was like for someone to come to saving faith in the Lord. Imagine how it must have felt to have such a sudden change of heart. Imagine the passion Zacchaeus must have experienced as he stood there, face-to-face with Jesus. It must have been very powerful indeed: it moved him to give away more than half of his fortune! He must have been flooded with peace, knowing that he was finally doing the right thing. You can be sure that at that moment, he was ready for a happy death! Today, try to imagine being in the cemetery with John Bosco or in that tree with Zacchaeus. Think about your life in Christ. What barriers are keeping you from surrendering your whole life to him? What is keeping you from knowing the joy of salvation? “Lord, give me the passion and conviction of Zacchaeus so that I can overcome my weaknesses. Teach me to focus my heart on the promise of eternal life with you.” Source: WAU