31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings remind us how God works: gently and “little by little”. In the first reading from Wisdom, God is described as a great lover, one who revels in all He has created. So when we are drawn into sin, God cannot hate us, but reminds us constantly there is another way. Like a parent reminding a child to use nice words and gentle hands, God keeps giving us lesson after lesson, chance after… chance to choose again. When Zacchaeus climbs the sycamore tree, this is not his first encounter with God. Though he is wealthy and a chief Roman tax collector (a very public sort of sinner for the Jews of the time), Jesus reaches out, not with a rebuke but with an invitation to stay with Him. When God makes small and repeated whispers to a conscience over time, then a simple moment can become a turning point. Zacchaeus is ready to give half his possessions away and repay his extortions. We are likewise invited to make a home for Christ in our hearts and lives. How are we responding to the little invitations Jesus is making for change in our lives?
Prayer: For little by little conversion to make more space for Jesus in our lives, we pray to the Lord.
Jesus, lover of souls and guest of Zacchaeus, call to us little by little, that our lives may gradually be consumed by you. May we hear you reminding us to turn from sin and to choose you, day by day, so we can respond with open hearts to your desire to live in us. Amen.
Text: CCCB #CatholicYYC #SundayMass
Taken from the Facebook page from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary.
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