Reflection for Tuesday November 21, Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Luke 19:1-10

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.”

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Reflection:

Was it only Zacchaeus who was seeking an encounter with Jesus? Was Jesus not also seeking an encounter with Zacchaeus?  Yes, Jesus was also seeking an encounter with Zacchaeus! Why? Because Zacchaeus was a sinner like all of us and truth be told Jesus always wants to have an encounter with sinners so that He could convert them. And what made it more interesting for Jesus to seek out Zacchaeus was Zacchaeus’ desire to see Jesus as well. 

Before Jesus arrived in Jericho He already had in mind Zacchaeus He knew that this chief tax collector was looking for Him and ready to change his sinful ways. With this factor present the encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus occurred. After their meeting Jesus subsequently went to the house of Zacchaeus to purify his house. As well as to liberate Zacchaeus from any form of sinfulness and right then and there his conversion and liberation from any form of sinfulness happened. 

How could we relate this gospel episode with our personal lives? Like Zacchaeus we too are sinful and Jesus is knocking at our hearts so that he could also have a personal encounter with us. 

If we say that we are not yet ready to have an encounter with the Lord,  then when? Next month or next year? It may be too late already, nothing is certain in this world anything can happen the next seconds or minutes. 

Therefore, we must also be like Zacchaeus who responded to the desire of Jesus to meet him. Let us not delay anymore let us rush to meet Jesus now for tomorrow may be late already. 

Would you want to have a personal encounter with Jesus today? - Marino J. Dasmarinas