The spiritual reality which touches the truth of our Christians faith is
that, daily in our lives, we are engaging ourselves in a search. We are people
who are searching. We are people who are looking for the one who has already
found us (cf. Jer 1:5). He is not far from us because in the history of our
salvation, God always takes an initiative in seeking men and women towards the
fulfilment of their faith that they may experience the joy of that wedding,
for, God “desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth” (1 Tim 2:4). What gives meaning to our lives is remaining united with
Christ. In the first reading of today, the churches of Sardis and Laodicea who
declared themselves to be materially well-off are criticized, for they did not
realize that at a deeper spiritual level they are wretched and pitifully poor.
This is the same scenario with Zacchaeus, in the gospel of today. He was a
chief tax collector, wealthy and had good fortune, yet he was aware of his
poverty. That is why he went above the crowd, above the mob to see who Jesus
was. In his quest for Jesus, Zacchaeus found more than he could possibly have
hoped for, which is salvation. The figure of Zacchaeus reminds us that there is
a deep restlessness of spirit within us which can only be satiated by the Lord.
The episode of Zacchaeus assures us that if we persevere in seeking the Lord,
in spite of the obstacles that may come our way, through the grace of God, we
will discover more than what we are seeking. Jesus is always seeking us with
deep passion than we are seeking him. He offers himself to us more than we can
imagine or conceive, especially in the sacrament of the Eucharist.
The original plan of
God was that all of us should be holy and blameless before his sight, “He chose
us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before
him in love” (Eph 1:4). However, our human nature was corrupted, and this has
made us unholy. We are not meant to be where we are right now; we were made to
be clean. God wants us to go back to the original innocence. Each new day is an
opportunity to amend our lives, and turn back to him, who is our love and
fortress. We are summoned to climb the tree of our vices. We cannot change if
we decide to remain where we are. Like Zacchaeus, we need to transcend
ourselves and take a small step towards the Lord and give him an abode in our
hearts. There is nothing that cannot change when we allow Christ to come into
our lives. The presence of Jesus corrects us and makes our lives more
meaningful. Like Zacchaeus, Jesus approaches us with eyes of mercy and love,
and this love changes everything. When God does that, he does not choose whom
to show his love. He just needs our effort, cooperation, disposition and
availability for us to achieve much in our lives.
Kudzai Tonganai
IV Year Theology
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