Tuesday, November 17, 2020 - 33rd week of Ordinary Time - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St. Luke 19, 1-10 - God loved us, He sent His Son as a Pardon for our sins.

A common fact of everyday life, when we want something and long for it, we do everything we can to achieve it. This is the behavior of Zacchaeus, who because of his physical condition, unable to walk with others, climbed a tree. It is for him the means to realize his wishes, his desires. He desired and longed to see Jesus pass by, but could not because of the crowd, so it was his plan to see Christ. He was an important figure of his time: a Roman tax collector, a rich man; but he left aside his titles and prestige, he dared to take the first step to get closer to God, if only to see Him from afar. Christ, knowing his desires and his efforts, did not hesitate to ask this publican to receive him in his house: "Come down quickly: today I must go and dwell in your house. Zacchaeus was happy to receive Christ in his house, so even though the people were slandering him, he received Christ with love and expressed his willingness to repent, to make reparation for the evil he had done in the past. Zacchaeus is not "a repentant robber" here, but it is the grace of God that came upon him, Christ himself came to save him. "An admitted fault is already forgiven".

This is exactly what Saint Luke shows us today: that we may always thirst to see, to meet Christ, God throughout our lives, and not only desire, but also seek every means to approach him in order to receive his mercy. He is always looking for us and waiting for us, but he expects us to turn to Him. He is ready to save us, but He expects us to be aware of our need for salvation. Let us remember that salvation does not wait for tomorrow but is urgent, for today. So let us be ready, like Zacchaeus.