A manger, in Bethlehem
A manger provides animals with food.
Bethlehem means “house of bread.”
Jesus, the Bread of Life, is born to us in a manger, in the “house of bread.”
Doesn’t God have a marvelously interesting way of doing things?
Now, God continues to nourish us with the food of God’s words and the Eucharist.
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Good News of Great Joy for All People
The Savior of the world was born in Bethlehem, which means “house of bread.”
God’s eternal Word became flesh. Now, in God’s words and in the Eucharist, the Savior of the world continues to be with us. That is the “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” proclaimed to the shepherds on that first Christmas night and now for all humanity.
Jesus – Emmanuel
In movies, superheroes are often portrayed swooping in, saves the day, and disappears.
That is not the way of Jesus. He came to save us from sins and death. And he stays with us.
He is present in us, in other people, in His saving words, and in His Sacraments.
He is Jesus, who saves his people from their sins. He is Emmanuel, “God with us.”
Are You the One?
"Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?"
This question from John the Baptist challenges us to ask ourselves, “For me, is Jesus the Savior?”
Or do I put my faith in somebody or something else?
And if I profess that Jesus is the Savior, do my thoughts, attitudes, words, and action reflect my faith in Jesus?
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Children of God
“God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”
Certainly!
And the same almighty God has created us out of nothing.
Then, God’s only Son came to save us from sins, and to restore us as God’s sons and daughters.
In the Savior, God’s promise to Abraham was now extended to all, “in your descendants all the nations of the earth will find blessing” (Genesis 22:18).
God created me a child of God and now God blesses all nations of the earth through me. What a privilege!
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Passing Things
Advent begins. We are called to prepare the way for the Savior.
Does the Gospel asks me to evaluate whether I live as if God were absent? Do I go about my daily routines as if God did not matter much in my life?
Using the words of the Prayer after Communion, we pray that God’s grace this Advent might help us, while “walking amid passing things, to love the things of heaven.”
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Jesus – God Saves
Three times, different group of people expressed their expectation that the Christ would save himself.
They did not understand Jesus and his mission that he had been proclaiming to them.
One person understood. He was a criminal but he knew that Jesus, as his name indicates, had come to save others, not himself. (This Archangel had proclaimed the name Jesus, “God saves” at the moment of the Incarnation in Luke 1: 31 and also Matthew 1:21).
Jesus truly is the Savior of the world, and the King of the universe.
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I Am With You
Jesus warns us, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he.’”
Meanwhile, we don’t need to look elsewhere for a savior. We don’t have to wait. The Savior is already came.
Life has its challenges. Jesus also warns us of suffering, disasters, persecution, and event death. In all of these, the Savior is always with us.
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Children of God
Jesus came to reveal to us that God is our loving Father.
Then, by his cross and resurrection, Jesus made us “children of God.”
Thus, God’s life is not a future existence. God’s life is already flowing in us, God’s children, now, in this life.
We will die after this earthly life. But we will rise, because God’s life lasts forever.
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A Descendant of Abraham
The people in the crowd know Zacchaeus as a sinner.
On the contrary, Jesus calls Zacchaeus by name, and declares him “a descendant of Abraham.” Thus, Jesus sees Zacchaeus a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.
In Genesis 22:18, God promised to Abraham, “in your descendants all the nations of the earth will find blessing.” Here, by entering the life and staying at the house of Zacchaeus, Jesus restores God’s promise in this man, known to others only as a sinner. Zacchaeus’ household now know God’s mercy, and Zacchaeus brings God’s blessing to the poor.
Image source: Jacopo Palma, Christ Calling Zacchaeus, wikimedia.org
Any Room Left for God?
The Pharisee in this parable brags about his achievements and his self-righteousness. He is certainly full of himself.
Consequently, he has no room for other people, not just the tax collector whom he despises.
Neither does he have room for God since he thinks everything is his own achievement.
On the contrary, the tax collector realizes that he has nothing. Thus, he comes to the realization that he depends on God and God’s mercy.
Let us thank God for giving us conscience, the ability to know our sins and our brokenness. Conscience is indeed a gift from God. If we are honest and humble, conscience helps us to know that we need God, and to grow in appreciation of God’s mercy.
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Not the Judge’s Way, but God’s Way
In most of Jesus’ parables, one of the characters would reflect some aspects of God’s goodness.
In today’s parable, however, the judge “who neither feared God nor respected any human being” would have to be seen as the opposite of God.
Consequently, Jesus urges us to avoid the attitude and behaviors of the judge. St. Paul illustrated the way of Jesus when he exhorted Timothy, “Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Second Reading, 2 Timothy 3: 14-15)
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Gratefulness
Beginning with our life breath, everything we have and are come from God, as God’s gifts of love to us.
Therefore, we should never think that by doing good, we can earn God’s love, or that God owes us some rewards. Nor should we think that by living a moral life and practicing charity, we earn our way to heaven.
The right attitude is that we should strive to live according to God’s law of love as our expression of gratitude to God. And in so doing, we become witnesses and instruments of God’s love in the world.
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Do I Raise My Eyes and See?
In this parable, the first time Jesus describes the rich man “raised his eyes and saw” is after he has already died. Now he sees Lazarus, whom he recognizes and knows by name, “at Abraham’s side.”
Prior to this, there was no indication of the rich man ever “raised his eyes and saw” Lazarus suffering “at his door.” Was it because he was so caught up with his “purple garments and his daily sumptuous dinners”?
We can all be caught up with our own lives and fail to raise our eyes and see our brothers and sisters around us, particularly those who are suffering.
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Children of Light
In this Gospel passage, Jesus uses the expression, “children of light.” That’s us. We have been entrusted with the greatest treasure – the light of God.
Moreover, the light of God is not just some quality of God. Jesus said, ““I am the light of the world” (John 8: 12). St. John testifies, “God is light” (1 John 1: 5).
Consequently, we have been entrusted with the treasure of God’s very self. We are privileged to be God-bearers. We are called to bring God to the world.
Through the Prophet Isaiah, God said to Israel the words later applied to Jesus. Now God says to each of us, “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).
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Drawing Near to Jesus
Jesus’s reputation, his words, actions, attitude all proclaim the mercy of God. Moreover, he brings God’s mercy to humanity. Consequently, “Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus.”
Not only do tax collectors and sinners receive God’s mercy in Jesus, they feel drawn to Jesus, the incarnation of God’s mercy. God’s mercy is consoling and attractive to sinners.
St. Luke then continues, “But the Pharisees and scribes began to complain.”
Luke Chapter 15 recalls Jesus’ three parables on God’s mercy. However, this one introductory sentence is probably already inviting us to examine our own attitude toward God’s mercy. Also, does it challenge me to ask if I put limits to God’s mercy on me and on those I might consider sinners?
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Possessions
Things that we have, wealth, money, expensive “stuff” can take possession of our hearts and minds.
So do people, hobbies, interests, desires, ambition, just like addictions, can also take possession of our hearts and minds.
Jesus invites us let God, and only God, take possession of our hearts and minds.
Dining with Jesus
We are “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” invited by Jesus at every Eucharist celebration.
May we grow in gratitude for the privilege of being invited to the Lord’s banquet.
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God’s Guests
The Fire of Jesus
Last Sunday, Jesus declared, “Your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
Today, as we continue with the same chapter, Jesus might be asking me to consider what in me must be purified by the fire of his love so that the Father’s gift of the Kingdom might be blazing.
The Gift of God’s Kingdom
Two Sundays ago, Jesus taught to pray, “Father, your kingdom come.”
Today, Jesus assures us, “Your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”
What can be greater than this gift of God’s love for us?
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