Readings
I - 2 Macc. 6: 18-31
II - Lk. 19: 1-10
TO GIVE UP TO GAIN
Zacchaeus with great desire climbed a sycamore tree just to see Jesus, the trending rabbi of that time may be out of mere curiosity. Jesus surprised him by looking up at him and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today”. The look of Jesus pierced through his eyes deep in to his heart that he said, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much”. Greedy Zacchaeus valued the friendship of Jesus so much that he was ready to give up all that he accumulated at the cost of the hatred of his people around and his loneness with the title as ‘the sinner’.
A person is ready and willing to give up anything for the sake of love. We may say we love God. And if we do love God, who loved us first and also love us more, are we ready to give up all that does not align with the will of God? If we dare to give up all that is not of God, then we are Christians. Let us give up our hatred, anger, jealousy, false finding attitude, gossip, pride, dishonesty, greed, enmity and avarice and shine brightly as sterling Christians after the heart of Jesus. Then can we hear Jesus say, “Today salvation has come to this house”. May our mind and heart resonate with the prayer: “Lord Jesus, teach me to give up all for your love”.
