New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 26: Year C
2nd Thessalonians 1:1 to 4 and 11 to 12; Luke 19:1 to10:
“Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19: 9 – 10)
I always see Danny De Vito as Zacchaeus; a short man in statue but very tall in his openness to change. Funny how a man (Zacchaeus) climbs a tree to see a man (Jesus) who will end his life on a tree. This is something to ponder.
Something else to ponder is that Zacchaeus is called a “chief” tax collector. This shows how he is considered even further removed from the House of Israel and from the Temple. He is perhaps the most repugnant among the excluded of the Hebrew people. But Jesus hears his change of heart and proclaims him also “a son of Abraham.” Jesus bypasses all the Temple bureaucracy and puts Zacchaeus back into the Promise of God.
Jesus came for people like you and me. But like Zacchaeus, we too must get ourselves into a place where we can see who Jesus is, and then allow him to come and visit with us. We must make right the wrongs we’ve done and promise to do all we can to fix or mend what we’ve broken. we too want to be placed back into the fold of Abraham.
Being lost is no problem because our Lord Jesus proclaims that he has come to seek out and save the lost. I am glad that our Lord Jesus is looking for me and you, how about you? Climbed any sycamore trees lately? He is coming! We need to get to a place where we can at least be seen by Him and then accept him into our homes and hearts.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.
As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 