The Lord Upholds

~~~ Saint Elizabeth of Hungary ~~~

~~~ 2 Macabees 6:18-31 ~~~ Psalm 3 ~~~ Luke 19:1-10 ~~~

Stories of martyrdom were popular in the book of Macabees.
They were written to encourage the Jewish
people during times of persecution.

I cannot help but to recall the recent images of Christian people
today enduring similar persecution. 

It seems there is always one group in power
who takes pleasure in persecuting another group.

The driving force is always self serving.
God is pushed completely out of the picture.
Words may pretend to be acting on God's behalf,
but they are never truly aligned with God.

 ...the Son of Man has come to seek

and to save what was lost.

Jesus calls for Zacchaeus, a wealthy tax collector,
to come down from his perch in the tree.

Zacchaeus was curious about Jesus...
he wanted to get a good look at him for himself.

Imagine his shock when Jesus
invites himself to dinner that very evening.

The Lord upholds me.

Zacchaeus had been lurking around Jesus...
listening to his preaching from afar.
He finally gets up the nerve to climb high
 enough to at least see Jesus.

Zacchaeus comes to the realization
 that something is missing in his life.

There is something that all of his wealth cannot buy.

There is something more...Jesus holds the answer.

Jesus touches Zacchaeus deep within the core of his soul.
He vows to repent...to share his wealth with the poor.
He even promises to make retribution for those
 he has previously deceived.

Did you notice that it was not Jesus
who commanded Zacchaeus to repent?

Jesus simply said...
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.” 

How has this same spirit of God
moved you to repent for your sins?

The Lord upholds all those who come to him...
all who seek to see him.

Receive Jesus with joy into your heart...
all things will change.

The Lord upholds me.

Blessings to reform.
~~~Peace~~~

Baby's Bath Water

~~~ Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22 ~~~ Psalm 15 ~~~ Luke 19:1-10 ~~~

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

then I will enter his house and dine with him...

Sometimes when we have everything that we need...
that is the comforts of life,
there is a danger of forgetting about our spiritual life.

This is what has God upset with the people in Laodicea.
Everything is going great...they are a wealthy
 industrial and commerce city.
They have a renowned medical school.
They exported fine woolen clothing.
Their cosmetic eye cream made them popular.

They were so well off that they were able to rebuild their city
after a devastating earthquake without outside aid.

They had life all figured out except for their relationship with God.
They were too busy to give it much attention.
Maybe they thought that God would just be there no matter what.
Maybe they thought that because life was going so great there
 was no need to bring God into the scene.
Making room for God can complicate your life.
You cannot be lukewarm when it comes to having God in your life.
Lukewarm may be good for the baby's bath water.
but not when it comes to God.

He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.

Jesus called Zacchaeus down from the tree
and invited himself for dinner.

Jesus could have just showed up at the door and knocked.
He certainly did not send a messenger ahead
to give Zacchaeus a heads up.

Zacchaeus had no idea that Jesus could
have come knocking at his door.

Little did he know that God was knocking
 at the door of his heart.
God led him to be curious enough to come
 out to see Jesus for himself.

Zacchaeus opened his heart to Jesus
and Jesus wasted no time in dining with him.

This meeting led him to hear the truth within his heart.
He was so moved that he gave half of his possessions to the poor.

It is far worse to be lukewarm then to be hot or cold.
It is all or nothing when it comes to God.
If you cannot be completely committed to him
then it may be time to ask yourself why not.

What are you most committed to in your life?

God is totally one hundred percent committed to you...
he would never be lukewarm.

Allow the Blessings of the Lord
to change the temperature setting of your heart.
~~~ Peace~~~

"Gift of Yahweh"

Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 1:15-17, 20-26 ~~~ Psalm 113 ~~~ John 15:9-17 ~~~

Matthias was not one of the original apostles hand picked by Jesus.

He was, however, a faithful follower and an avid believer.

He was one of about seventy disciples who had been

 with Jesus from the beginning.

If it not for this feast day we 

might not even pay attention to Matthias.

Matthias was discerned, thus chosen,

 by God to fill the position held by Judas.

The name Matthias means "gift of Yahweh".

It seems Matthias won the lottery, as lots were drawn for him.

Very little was historically recorded about Matthias. 

We can safely surmise that 

he went about preaching the gospel of Jesus.

One may wonder why Peter felt the need to replace Judas.

The Bible footnote points out the significance of the number twelve.

The number twelve was associated with the twelve tribes of Israel.

Tradition tells us that Matthias, was the one who climbed up into the tree

 to get a better look at Jesus.

He was also called Zacchaeus. 

Jesus invites himself to dine in the home of Zacchaeus.

Following this dinner meeting, he gave half of his belongings

 to Jesus and became a believer. 

Matthias was chosen by God to be named one of the apostles

 because he turned away for his corrupt ways.

He chose to enter into the circle of influence surrounding Jesus

and he was filled with grace.

Matthias was stoned to death for blasphemy.

We too can chose to enter into this circle surrounding Jesus.

We can open ourselves to be changed by Jesus.

We can experience the fullness of his grace.

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you

Jesus speaks these words to each of us today

just as when Matthias was chosen to be one of the Apostles.

Every day Jesus chooses you to be with him...

to receive his graces...

to reside in his circle of Blessings.

~~~ Peace ~~~

Show Up: Receive the Lord

~~~ 2 Maccabees 6:18-31 ~~~ Psalm 3 ~~~ Luke 19:1-10 ~~~

 

We have two very different examples of faith given to us today.

First we have Eleazar, he has been faithful

to the Lord since childhood. He is now facing the temptation

to abandon his faith to save his own life. He is ninety years old.

He has the strength of character and the faith to withstand those around him.

Even his friends are coaxing him into saving himself...just this one time.

 

On the other hand we are presented with the chief

official tax collector, Zacchaeus.

He is a considered a thief, a crook, therefore a sinner. He is despised by others.

In this familiar story we know that he runs ahead and climbs the tree

to get a better view of Jesus. Climbing the tree that day changed him forever;

it brought him salvation.

 

So where do you find yourself? Are you like Eleazar?

Have you been faithful since your childhood?

Are you like Zacchaeus? Has God given you a conversion experience? 

Or are you waiting for that conversion event, while continuing

 to do your own thing?

 

God is present in both of these scenarios...he finds a way

to manifest his presence to us as needed.

 

 

Perhaps you have heard of the "7 Ups" of life...

Wake up...Dress up...Shut up...Stand up...Look up...Reach up...Lift up.

 

I would like to add one more...Show up...

Zacchaeus shows up to get a better look at Jesus.

Jesus looks up into the tree...reaches up to Zacchaeus with his invitation

to dine with him, and finally lifts him up

to enjoy the blessings of salvation.

 

“Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost.”

If we will only 'Show Up"

Jesus will do the rest.

 

The tree of our downfall becomes the saving tree of life for Zacchaeus.

Blessings from coming to see the Lord.

Step out of the crowd and grace will lift you up.

Receive the Lord with Joy.

Life Changing Tree

~~~ Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~~~

~~Wisdom 11:22-12:2~~Psalm 145~~2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2~~Luke 19:1-10~~ 

 

In one day Zacchaeus went from being the chief tax collector,

resorted to climbing a tree,

to having Jesus dine with him in his home and repenting.

 

Obviously Zacchaeus was a man of small stature,

 perhaps that is why he prided himself so much

as a chief tax collector and a wealthy man.

 

He was wealthy he had a good job, but yet something

was still missing in his life. You might say he had tenure.

 

He left the ground, his comfort zone, and climbed

 high above the crowd into a tree.

By doing so he removed himself from his usual surroundings.

He was no longer influenced by those around him.

He could for the time being escape the glaring stares.

Jesus sees him and calls him to come down.

Jesus wants to change his life forever.

 

"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."

 

In his position, Zacchaeus had power, he had authority over his co-workers.

But now he is moved to be a generous and even honest man...

now he wants to make reparation for his wrong doings.

Zacchaeus convicted himself, Jesus never accused him of anything.

 

You cannot come into contact with Jesus and remain the same...

you must change...change for the better.

Meeting Jesus inspires you to be a better person.

 

 

...you overlook people's sins that they may repent.

 

God does not hold your past offenses against you.

 

Therefore you (Lord) rebuke offenders little by little,
warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing,
that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!

God can remind you of your sins without uttering a word...

he may simply call you down from the tree or write in the sand.

He does not need a powerful job, he does not need material wealth;

he just wants to meet you where you are in this moment in time. 

 

If we are to be blessed

 it is because others are praying for us...

Paul writes to his friends...

Brothers and sisters:
We always pray for you,
that our God may make you worthy of his calling
and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose...

 

Someone you know needs prayers today.

Can they count on you?

 

Be Not Lukewarm

~~~ Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22 ~~~ Psalm 15 ~~~ Luke 19:1-10 ~~~

 

"...Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says..."

 

"...I wish you were either cold or hot.
So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my mouth."

 

Neither being cold or hot is the same as being apathetic or complacent.

God wants us to live our lives with passion.

We need to live a life convicted by our faith in God.

 

If we are neither cold or hot we just go thorough the motions of living.

Look at Paul, he was passionate about persecuting Christians but when God

entered into his life he flipped his passion to doing good.

 

Being lukewarm to God is not acceptable.

It is much more difficult to stand up for what you believe if you are tepid.

For a moment think about the temperature of water.

If the is either hot or cold it serves either to cook or to freeze something.

Extremes are noticed...given attention.

Lukewarm can be swayed either way depending on how the 'wind blows'.

 

 

'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
then I will enter his house and dine with him,
and he with me.'

 

Zacchaeus was not satisfied to just hear the words of Jesus.

He climbed a tree so he could also see the person of Jesus.

He took a chance. He was not acting as someone who was lukewarm.

 

By climbing up into the tree he was not in his normal place.

Birds are in the trees not people.

Jesus noticed Zacchaeus up in the tree because it was not

the usual place for a person.

 

 

 

Jesus not only noticed him high up in the tree he also told him...

 

"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."

 

The very next knock on Zacchaeus' door would be

announcing the arrival of Jesus.

 

Jesus would be standing at the door;

 having already made contact with Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus was ready to receive Jesus into his home.

He heard what the Spirit said that day.

 

Even though a tax collector and wealthy

 he was open to hearing what Jesus had to say.

Zacchaeus was willing to change.

Did he have any idea what seeing Jesus would do to his life?

Would he have invited Jesus to dine in his home on his own?

 

This is another example of Jesus making the first move.

Jesus reached out to the small man perched high in the tree.

 

...If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
then I will enter his house and dine with him,
and he with me.'

 

Neither be cold or hot...

Listen to the Spirit...

If you do hear his voice open the door...

he wants to dine with you.