Jesus eating with a tax collector????? Tax collectors were viewed as the most self-serving segment of the population of the time, currying favor with the Romans and exploiting their neighbors for their self-serving ends. Does Jesus have another way of life to offer Zacchaeusand to us?

If this sounds like the ever popular prosperity gospel, read it again. Paul is taking up a collection for the saints (read the poor) in Jerusalem. The indescribable gift we have received from God includes but is not limited to material goods. All the things God has given so generously are so we can give them away generously

Each of us carries a treasure chest with us containing the memories, values, hopes, fears, and numerous other life experiences that make us who we are. Can we offer those treasures to God just as the Magi offered theirs?

Even if we can't do everything, we can all do something. Let's do what we can do and stop worrying about the rest.

Faith is not something we just stand aside and watch happen to others. It requires a response, for us to do something about the love we have experienced, not during one season, but all the time.