TUESDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2023
TUESDAY OF THE THIRTY THIRD WEEK OF THE ORDINARY TIME A
THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (Memorial)
2 Maccabees 6:18-31
Luke 19:1-10
GRACE FINDS US ALL
Most times we think or suppose that we are the ones going after God and seeking the face of our God. But in actual sense, God himself seeks after us more and wishes our conversion and our drawing close to him more intensely than we do. On our part, we are only responding to the call and invitation of grace.
The gospel of today narrates how Zacchaeus made serious efforts and sought after Jesus on face value but in reality, it is a response to the call of grace. A grown man with little stature sought to climb a tree to defile his obstacle to getting a glimpse of Jesus. That effort was not a wasted one because Jesus sees our little effort and striving to get closer to him. He desires and rewards our little efforts as he did to this man Zacchaeus today.
He stopped at the point in which Zacchaeus was and commanded him to come down from the tree and took him to his house to have dinner with him. This was a rare privilege for a man who was known as a sinner. But it all shows and speaks volumes that Jesus desires us more than we do seek him. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”
Jesus recognizes our individual struggles, our striving, and knows our various limitations. He meets us at these points of our limitations and administers his healing and salvation to us. He never abandons us or neglects us. He cares, he came to save, to redeem us and to help us to return to God and be ever faithful to our God.
Therefore our response to his invitations and calls must be positive, active and forthright. We must recognize his presence at every moment of our lives.
The man Eleazar in the first reading demonstrates to us the response we must have in the face and challenges to our faith. Eleazar was a loyal and faithful devotee of the Jewish religion. His actions, his words and his teachings are in concordance to the Jewish faith. His action does not negate his profession. He was not ever pretending to be what he was not. And he refused to pretend even to act differently even at the cost of his life.
Loyalty to the tenets, life and teachings of our faith is key to the proper life in Christ. No pretenses, must be entertained. Life in Christ is paramount and very crucial. We must hold fast, be faithful, be sincere and be ever watchful of our faith and remain loyal even in the midst of opposition that may threaten our lives and living on earth. This can only be done by our strong resolves and the divine grace of God. We must learn to yield to the call of grace, respond adequately to grace and give ourselves to it unreservedly and in humble submission until salvation is gained.
God our Father, may we be counted among those you have redeemed by your precious blood shed on the cross of Calvary. May our lives be ever loyal and faithful to the faith in you we profess each day. Keep us ever faithful and resolved even in the face of threat to our lives. May no sordid desires ever take away our faith and loyalty to you our God through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
