2 December 2019 - Advent Reconciliation Service - Luke 19:1-10

Luke 19:1-10

     Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.  Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way.  When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”  And he came down quickly and received him with joy.  When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”  But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.”  And Jesus said to him, “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.”

Reflection 
     We have just celebrated our national holiday of Thanksgiving and we have just started the holy season of Advent, a season of preparation and waiting for the coming of the Lord.  We want to thank you all for coming to our Advent reconciliation service this evening at the start of our period of Advent. It is a great way to start this holy period of preparation.  

     Today, from Luke's Gospel, we hear the familiar story of Zacchaeus, a man who as chief tax collector probably did many bad things in his lifetime - including extortion, deception, fraud. and corruption. He probably had hurt many people in the process. But something called Zacchaeus to Jesus.  Something stirred in his heart and began to work in his soul.  Whatever the reason, Zacchaeus had a change of heart and had a conversion in his life.  He repented and offered amends for his sins.  We can tell from the way he responds to Jesus in the Gospel today, Zacchaeus wants this change of heart to be a permanent part of his life.   

      Living our lives as disciples of Christ it is a long process.  It is a lifelong process.  It is not something that we commit to just for the short-term.  We can go through terrible struggles really difficult periods in our lives, can’t we, when we feel like change would be impossible.  I love this story of Zacchaeus that we hear today.  His repentance and change of heart shows us that God calls us to repentance, to prayer, and to hope even when things may look bleak, even when we are entangled in our sins.  In the midst of our sins and of the darkness we experience in our lives, Jesus is there to provide us light.  May our image of Zacchaeus and the obstacles that he overcame in his life bring us hope and call us to repentance.  God welcomes us to the sacrament of reconciliation tonight.  He invites us to repentance and conversion in this sacrament of healing. If you would please stand for our examination of conscience.