First Reading Commentary
The opening verse
describes the unfathomable immensity of Almighty God. Compared to Him, the unknown vastness of the
universe is like a grain or drop of morning dew. This verse actually doesn't do Him justice
but there are no words in any language, nor is there any reachable level of
human thought to properly define the boundlessness of our Creator. Since we are incapable of visiting this level
of spirituality, the rest of the Reading is all the more incredible - but
true. He loves all things, spares all
things; He is a lover of all souls, and therefore rebukes and warns us of our
sins. Why would this incomprehensible
Being whose power is indescribable care one iota about us? Why does He want to share in our joys and
feel our pains? Why does He listen to
our prayers? Why does He desire an
intimate, deep, personal relationship with each and every one of us? These are questions that even the most gifted
theologians and philosophers cannot finitely answer; but then again we are reflecting
on the infinite Most High. The proof of
the pudding, though, is when He made His uncontainable Self containable in the
womb of a Virgin; when He walked among us, taught us, healed us of our
infirmities, suffered and died for us; rose from the dead, ascended into heaven
and opened the eternal gates in order to fulfill His longing and our longing to
spend eternity together. And for as long
as we remain in this valley of tears, He gives us a taste of heaven by leaving
us a memorial of His Love - His precious Body and Blood. If we were capable of comprehending all of
this, our hearts would explode.
Second Reading Commentary
Saint Paul's words here give you the sense
that this prayer of his extends far beyond the Thessalonians. Can you hear him in heaven praying for us using
these very same words?
There's a story about Saint Francis of
Assisi, in which the authenticity of it has been debated, but makes a point
regardless. The story goes that he asked
one of his brother Friars to accompany him into town to preach. When they arrived in town, they quietly
walked all through the town and then Saint Francis said to his brother Friar, "We're
finished, let's go back." His
brother Friar said to him, "I thought you said we were going to preach." And Saint Francis replied, "We just did." Faith in action speaks louder than shouting
from the highest mountaintops and manifests itself in many ways.
How do others
perceive us? Even without mentioning our
Lord, do we conduct ourselves in such a way that others would be able to deduce
that we are Christians? The joy that
flows from a strong faith reveals itself naturally because of God's grace and
could leave the most indifferent of souls asking themselves, "What do they
have that I don't have?" Faith is
not a part time job to earn extra credit in heaven. True faith envelops us and dictates our way
of life and is not easily alarmed or shaken.
Gospel Commentary
As devout Christians we are
well-represented by Zacchaeus. He was a
little man. In the grand scheme of
things, how often do we consider ourselves to be insignificant? Part of this may be credited to some level of
humility but there's always that inner self-demoralizing voice that asks, "How
is it possible that I matter to God?"
The answer is simple but not necessarily understandable: We are sinners
which bewilderingly qualifies us as recipients of Christ's love. It is in our inner house that He dwells so
that He may stay with us always. Through
prayer and silence we may visit that inner house to be with our Lord where that
self-demoralizing voice is overpowered by the Voice that says: "Salvation
has come to this house."
As qualifiers of salvation, we are indeed
descendants of Abraham. While Jesus may
never require us to literally give up half of our possessions, He does ask for
detachment from them.
"The Son of Man has come to seek and
to save what was lost." For Christians
this is a most comforting verse because the word "was" is past
tense. In salvation history there was a
time when we were among the lost, but through Baptism and by surrendering our
lives to Christ's care and accepting His gift of salvation we can now joyfully
look ahead without ever having to look back.
But the push forward should be an ongoing process of spiritual growth.
