As Jesus continues to make His way up to Jerusalem in St. Luke’s Gospel, we find (by chapter 19, 1-10) that He enters Jericho and intends to pass through it. So many times in the Gospels we see Him passing by or through a place. It seems that if He is not stopped, He will keep going. Similarly, He constantly passes through our lives, doesn’t He?
Jesus does, indeed, come into our lives every day – in one form or another. He will most certainly come into our lives this weekend. Will we recognize Him? Where are we expecting to find Him? In what people? In what places? In what experiences?
Speaking of the people in whom we might encounter Jesus, Luke 19 presents us with a man named Zacchaeus. The Gospel tells us that he wanted to see who Jesus was. We are not at first given the reason. Was it just curiosity towards a person about whom he had heard so many stories? Or was there a deeper reason? Listen to the Gospel carefully at Mass this weekend: Zacchaeus is a good example of someone who comes looking for something or someone, only to discover something (someone!) altogether more wonderful. Let us pray for openness to how God chooses to make His love known to us.
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“O God of wonder and might, look kindly upon us, your faithful people, as we move and grow through this journey we call life. We know that we are not alone as your Spirit empowers us in each new day. Help us to take time to listen and reflect on the words of the Scriptures, which can renew and refresh us in a constant way. Help us to walk and to not be in such a hurry as we make this journey. Help us also to appreciate the beauty and grace that give us the passion to live each moment to the fullest. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
