Tuesday, 11-19–24

PRI Reflections on Scripture | Tuesday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time

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Gospel

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.”

Reflection

What's interesting about this story, is how did Jesus know who Zacchaeus was? He's just a man in a tree. But we know from the Psalms that Jesus is the one who reads hearts, he knows where we are, he knows who we are. And he recognized in Zacchaeus someone who was different, someone who was ready and willing to make up for any sin he committed.

And he wanted to be with Zacchaeus. And he said, I want to eat dinner at your house. I love that image of intimacy at a dinner. He longs to awaken people, but at the same time, he knows those that are ready to be awakened.

Closing Prayer

Father, we all judge one another. And what you've taught us so often is to look more deeply into who these people are, and to ask for wisdom to know them, to see them, to know the goodness is in each of them. That's one of the great blessings that God has given to us. A heart like the heart of Jesus that longs to reach everyone where they are and draw them into the kingdom. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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