Reflection for Zacchaeus -- 3 Nov 2019

The first reading from Mass this morning was from the book of Wisdom:

But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook sins for the sake of repentance.

For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for you would not fashion what you hate.

How could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?

The Gospel reading from Mass this morning is the story of   Zacchaeus.  He was a chief tax collector in the city of Jericho.

Now Zacchaeus, like each and every one of us, was made by God, and He loathes nothing that He has made.  God does not loathe the sinner, but as St. Benedict reminds us:

God does not desire the death of the sinner, but that he should repent and live.

This great sinner was called by Jesus who said to him:

"Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." 

And the Gospel closes today with Jesus saying:

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.

So, we who are sinners can know and understand that Jesus came into the world to save sinners, not to condemn them.  And by looking at a crucifix we can see the lengths He goes so that we might be with Him always.

Therefore, let us repent of the evil we have done, and enter through the narrow gate into the hand of God, where no torment can touch us.