Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng
ta hãy tự hỏi? Chúng ta sẽ phản ứng ra sao hay là sẽ phải làm những gì nếu Chúa
Giêsu gõ cửa nhà của chúng và nói, "Ta phải lưu lại nhà ngươi hôm nay!"
Chúng ta có thể vui mừng hay xấu hổ? Chúa Giêsu thường đến thăm chúng trong những
lúc thật bất ngờ " những lúc không mời mà đến" người nghèo, người
què, thậm chí tội lỗi công khai như Gia kêu là người thu thuế! (Người Thu thuế lúc bấy giờ thường được xem
như hạng người phản bội, gian giảo nên bị đối xử như người ngoại bang không có thành
thật vì họ làm giàu trên xương máu của người khác).
Ông Gia kêu là một người thu thuế trưởng và bị rất nhiều người thù ghét. Ông cần tình yêu thương xót của Thiên Chúa và trong cuộc gặp gỡ với Chúa Giêsu, ông ta đã tìm thấy lòng hương xót và tình yêu nơi Chúa Giêsu nhiều hơn những gì ông có thể tưởng tượng. Ông đã cho thấy sự ăn năn thống hối thật tình của mình bằng cách quyết định dâng cúng một nửa số gia tài của mình cho người nghèo và sử dụng một nửa khác đền bù thiệt hại cho những ai mà ông ta có sự gian lận. Những việc ông ta đã làm đẵ làm chứng còn nhiều hơn là những lời ông ta nói. Sự thay đổi tâm hồn của ông ta dẫn đến một sự thay đổi của cuộc sống, một sự thay đổi mà cả cộng đoàn có thể trải nghiệm chân thật.
Chúa luôn luôn sẵn sàng đến để làm niơi trú ngụ của Ngài trong chúng ta, măc dù chúng ta có tội lỗi nhiều đi đến đau năm, nếu chúng ta có lòng quyết tâm hối cải và biến đổi như Gia kêu, thì chúng ta phải dành chỗ cho Ngài trong tâm hồn, trong trái tim và trong gia đình của chúng ta, Và nhờ đó mà Ngài sẽ sống với và trong chúng ta mãi mãi.
Lạy Chúa, xin Chúa đến và ở lại với chúng con, xin Chúa khỏa lấp nhà chúng con với sự hiện diện của Chúa và lấp đầy tâm của chúng con với lời khen ngợi Chúa. Xin Chúa giúp chúng con biết thể hiện lòng tốt và lòng thương xót đến với mọi người, ngay cả những người chúng con không ưa thích và cà những người đã gây ra thiệt hại cho chúng con.
Reflection (SG)
What would you do if Jesus knocked on your door and said, “I must stay at your house today?” Would you be excited or embarrassed? Jesus often “dropped-in” at unexpected times and he often visited the “uninvited” — the poor, the lame, even public sinners like Zacchaeus, the tax collector! Tax collectors were despised and treated as outcasts, no doubt because they accumulated great wealth at the expense of others. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and was much hated by all the people.
Zacchaeus needed God’s merciful love and in his encounter with Jesus he found more than he imagined possible. He shows the depth of his repentance by deciding to give half of his goods to the poor and to use the other half for making restitution for fraud. Zacchaeus’ testimony included more than words. His change of heart resulted in a change of life, a change that the whole community could experience as genuine. The Lord is always ready to make his home with us. We have to make room for him in our hearts and in our home, so that he lives with us forever.
Lord, come and stay with me. Fill my home with your presence and fill my heart with your praise. Help me to show kindness and mercy to all, even those who cause me harm.
Tuesday
33rd Ordinary Time 2023
Once again, our Lord reaches out to someone who comes to Him in humility and need. Zaccheaus was a wealthy man, materially speaking. But interiorly he was poor and in need. And it was this spiritual poverty he was experiencing that led him to seek out Jesus with much determination.
Zacchaeus probably never imagined that day that Jesus would offer to come to his home. Clearly, he climbed the tree to get a glimpse of Jesus because he felt a strong desire to know our Lord. Since he was physically wealthy, it seems clear that he no longer was satisfied in life simply because of a comfortable lifestyle. Something was missing, and he couldn’t help but know that Jesus held the answer. So Zacchaeus did what some may have thought unusual. He climbed a tree to be able to see Jesus.
Why did Jesus stop, look up at Zacchaeus, and call him down, stating that He was going to stay at Zacchaeus’ home? It’s because Jesus was able to sense the need within the heart of Zacchaeus. Hearts that are poor, in need, and open are very attractive to Jesus. He never misses the opportunity to come to humble souls like this.
Zacchaeus responds to our Lord immediately by promising to right the wrongs he has done in the past. He promises to give away half of his possessions and to repay anyone he has extorted fourfold. This reveals the authenticity of Zacchaeus’ heart.
As Jesus passes by you, what does He sense? Is He drawn to your heart? Is He drawn to you because of your interior disposition of humility and need? It is easy for us to go through life acting as if we have it all together. We can put on a facade that portrays an attitude of strength and success. But Jesus rarely comes to the soul who expresses little need. If we want to draw Jesus to ourselves, then we must acknowledge the poverty within ourselves, even if we are materially wealthy and successful in a worldly way. Every one of us must humble ourselves like Zacchaeus by knowing that Jesus is the only answer in life.
Reflect, today, upon the fact that you and you alone have the ability to draw Jesus to yourself. You can do this by looking at your need for Him. Do not hide it. Climb the figurative tree by which you will be able to look for Jesus and, more importantly, by which Jesus can see your manifest desire for Him. As you express your need for Him, know that He will be compelled, by His unshakable love and mercy, to come to you and to stay with you in the house of your soul. And when He does, be ready and willing to abandon all that has been a hindrance to your meeting with Christ in the past.
My attentive Lord, You are always aware of every heart that longs for You. You never ignore those who desire You in their life. Please help me to see my own interior needs and struggles and to see You as the only source of fulfillment in life. I commit myself to seeking You out, dear Lord. And as You come to me, I commit to abandon all that has kept me from You in the past. Jesus, I trust in You.
Tuesday
33rd Ordinary Time 2023
1. Nothing to Lose: Ironically, a reputation of sinfulness or weakness can sometimes become an asset. Zacchaeus was almost universally disliked because he gathered taxes from his people for the Romans. Because few liked him, he did not have to worry about impressing anyone. When Jesus came to town, a more respectable person might have thought twice about climbing a tree, but Zacchaeus had no such inhibition. He wanted to see Jesus passing by. And because Zacchaeus forgot himself enough to climb that tree, he caught Jesus’s attention, which ended up being the biggest blessing of his life.
Tuesday
33rd Ordinary Time
A Seeker: There seems to be a contradiction in the first few lines of this passage. First, the evangelist Luke told us that Jesus “intended to pass through the town.” Then, “when Jesus reached the place,” he stopped. The reason his plans changed had a name: Zacchaeus. This little man with a great heart had the power to “change” Jesus’ course, to catch his eye. What was it in Zacchaeus’s heart that drew Jesus to him? Or was it the other way around—what was it about Jesus of Nazareth, a poor carpenter-turned-rabbi, a young but charismatic miracle worker, that attracted wealthy and preoccupied Zacchaeus? This passage expresses the timeless dynamic of the utter attraction of God to the soul who seeks him. Zacchaeus was a seeker, and no obstacle, not even the hustling crowds or his short stature, would keep him from that search.
Ông Gia kêu là một người thu thuế trưởng và bị rất nhiều người thù ghét. Ông cần tình yêu thương xót của Thiên Chúa và trong cuộc gặp gỡ với Chúa Giêsu, ông ta đã tìm thấy lòng hương xót và tình yêu nơi Chúa Giêsu nhiều hơn những gì ông có thể tưởng tượng. Ông đã cho thấy sự ăn năn thống hối thật tình của mình bằng cách quyết định dâng cúng một nửa số gia tài của mình cho người nghèo và sử dụng một nửa khác đền bù thiệt hại cho những ai mà ông ta có sự gian lận. Những việc ông ta đã làm đẵ làm chứng còn nhiều hơn là những lời ông ta nói. Sự thay đổi tâm hồn của ông ta dẫn đến một sự thay đổi của cuộc sống, một sự thay đổi mà cả cộng đoàn có thể trải nghiệm chân thật.
Chúa luôn luôn sẵn sàng đến để làm niơi trú ngụ của Ngài trong chúng ta, măc dù chúng ta có tội lỗi nhiều đi đến đau năm, nếu chúng ta có lòng quyết tâm hối cải và biến đổi như Gia kêu, thì chúng ta phải dành chỗ cho Ngài trong tâm hồn, trong trái tim và trong gia đình của chúng ta, Và nhờ đó mà Ngài sẽ sống với và trong chúng ta mãi mãi.
Lạy Chúa, xin Chúa đến và ở lại với chúng con, xin Chúa khỏa lấp nhà chúng con với sự hiện diện của Chúa và lấp đầy tâm của chúng con với lời khen ngợi Chúa. Xin Chúa giúp chúng con biết thể hiện lòng tốt và lòng thương xót đến với mọi người, ngay cả những người chúng con không ưa thích và cà những người đã gây ra thiệt hại cho chúng con.
Reflection (SG)
What would you do if Jesus knocked on your door and said, “I must stay at your house today?” Would you be excited or embarrassed? Jesus often “dropped-in” at unexpected times and he often visited the “uninvited” — the poor, the lame, even public sinners like Zacchaeus, the tax collector! Tax collectors were despised and treated as outcasts, no doubt because they accumulated great wealth at the expense of others. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and was much hated by all the people.
Zacchaeus needed God’s merciful love and in his encounter with Jesus he found more than he imagined possible. He shows the depth of his repentance by deciding to give half of his goods to the poor and to use the other half for making restitution for fraud. Zacchaeus’ testimony included more than words. His change of heart resulted in a change of life, a change that the whole community could experience as genuine. The Lord is always ready to make his home with us. We have to make room for him in our hearts and in our home, so that he lives with us forever.
Lord, come and stay with me. Fill my home with your presence and fill my heart with your praise. Help me to show kindness and mercy to all, even those who cause me harm.
Once again, our Lord reaches out to someone who comes to Him in humility and need. Zaccheaus was a wealthy man, materially speaking. But interiorly he was poor and in need. And it was this spiritual poverty he was experiencing that led him to seek out Jesus with much determination.
Zacchaeus probably never imagined that day that Jesus would offer to come to his home. Clearly, he climbed the tree to get a glimpse of Jesus because he felt a strong desire to know our Lord. Since he was physically wealthy, it seems clear that he no longer was satisfied in life simply because of a comfortable lifestyle. Something was missing, and he couldn’t help but know that Jesus held the answer. So Zacchaeus did what some may have thought unusual. He climbed a tree to be able to see Jesus.
Why did Jesus stop, look up at Zacchaeus, and call him down, stating that He was going to stay at Zacchaeus’ home? It’s because Jesus was able to sense the need within the heart of Zacchaeus. Hearts that are poor, in need, and open are very attractive to Jesus. He never misses the opportunity to come to humble souls like this.
Zacchaeus responds to our Lord immediately by promising to right the wrongs he has done in the past. He promises to give away half of his possessions and to repay anyone he has extorted fourfold. This reveals the authenticity of Zacchaeus’ heart.
As Jesus passes by you, what does He sense? Is He drawn to your heart? Is He drawn to you because of your interior disposition of humility and need? It is easy for us to go through life acting as if we have it all together. We can put on a facade that portrays an attitude of strength and success. But Jesus rarely comes to the soul who expresses little need. If we want to draw Jesus to ourselves, then we must acknowledge the poverty within ourselves, even if we are materially wealthy and successful in a worldly way. Every one of us must humble ourselves like Zacchaeus by knowing that Jesus is the only answer in life.
Reflect, today, upon the fact that you and you alone have the ability to draw Jesus to yourself. You can do this by looking at your need for Him. Do not hide it. Climb the figurative tree by which you will be able to look for Jesus and, more importantly, by which Jesus can see your manifest desire for Him. As you express your need for Him, know that He will be compelled, by His unshakable love and mercy, to come to you and to stay with you in the house of your soul. And when He does, be ready and willing to abandon all that has been a hindrance to your meeting with Christ in the past.
My attentive Lord, You are always aware of every heart that longs for You. You never ignore those who desire You in their life. Please help me to see my own interior needs and struggles and to see You as the only source of fulfillment in life. I commit myself to seeking You out, dear Lord. And as You come to me, I commit to abandon all that has kept me from You in the past. Jesus, I trust in You.
1. Nothing to Lose: Ironically, a reputation of sinfulness or weakness can sometimes become an asset. Zacchaeus was almost universally disliked because he gathered taxes from his people for the Romans. Because few liked him, he did not have to worry about impressing anyone. When Jesus came to town, a more respectable person might have thought twice about climbing a tree, but Zacchaeus had no such inhibition. He wanted to see Jesus passing by. And because Zacchaeus forgot himself enough to climb that tree, he caught Jesus’s attention, which ended up being the biggest blessing of his life.
A Seeker: There seems to be a contradiction in the first few lines of this passage. First, the evangelist Luke told us that Jesus “intended to pass through the town.” Then, “when Jesus reached the place,” he stopped. The reason his plans changed had a name: Zacchaeus. This little man with a great heart had the power to “change” Jesus’ course, to catch his eye. What was it in Zacchaeus’s heart that drew Jesus to him? Or was it the other way around—what was it about Jesus of Nazareth, a poor carpenter-turned-rabbi, a young but charismatic miracle worker, that attracted wealthy and preoccupied Zacchaeus? This passage expresses the timeless dynamic of the utter attraction of God to the soul who seeks him. Zacchaeus was a seeker, and no obstacle, not even the hustling crowds or his short stature, would keep him from that search.
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