In today’s Old Testament reading (Wisdom 11:22-12:2) we hear of God’s omnipotence – how the universe that we live in is but a grain of sand before God. At the same time we hear that our omnipotent God is attentive to his creation, offering limitless love, mercy, and forgiveness to each and every one of us. God reveals that his love is inclusive – that no one is beyond his reach, that no one is excluded from his love.
And in today’s gospel (Luke 19:1-10), we hear about Zacchaeus, a sinful man, but a man certainly not beyond God’s reach, nor excluded from God’s love. We hear about an inspired Zacchaeus going to extreme lengths to catch a glimpse of Jesus – breaking free of the crowd and climbing a tree. We see Zacchaeus unwilling to allow Jesus to pass him by. We see Zacchaeus drawn out of his sinfulness to something much better.
Like Zacchaeus we are inspired by our omnipotent God to open ourselves to encounter Christ. Like Zacchaeus, we place this encounter as the top priority in our lives. And like Jesus did for Zacchaeus, Jesus will respond to us and draw us further into him. And similar to Zacchaeus’ conversion experience, with Christ living in us and us living in Christ we will then be empowered to model our lives after Jesus. Indeed, just like Zacchaeus, we will be drawn out of our sinfulness to something much better.
In this encounter with Zacchaeus, Jesus emphasizes once again the essence of his mission – “to seek and to save what is lost”. In doing this Jesus reveals in a most profound way the love, mercy, and forgiveness of our omnipotent God. And Jesus’ mission and this revelation continue today. Jesus always seeks us and constantly reaches out to save us – each and every one of us. In reaching out, Jesus shows us the infinite mercy and love of God. No matter where we find ourselves all we need to do is be attentive to God’s call, open ourselves for encounter with Jesus, and welcome him into our lives. Like Zacchaeus we don’t let Jesus pass us by. We free ourselves from the crowd, we raise ourselves up. We allow God’s love to penetrate our being and we then reflect that love to others with the same spirit of inclusivity as our omnipotent God.