For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost

3 NOVEMBER (Lk 19,1-10)

God wants to be sought. His is a pressing invitation that accompanies all Ancient Scripture. The whole Gospel is a search for Christ. God in Christ seeks man. Man in Christ seeks God. God seeks us because we seek Him. We seek the God who always sought and seeks us. He has sought us creating us, but he also sought us to forgive, save, redeem, justify and elevate us.

When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.” Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation! For my father and my mother have forsaken me, But the LORD will take me up. Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a level path Because of my foes. Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD (Psalm 27 (26), 8-14).

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your loving kindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. But those who seek my life to destroy it, Will go into the depths of the earth. They will be delivered over to the power of the sword; They will be a prey for foxes. But the king will rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him will glory, For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped (Psalm 63 (62) 1-12).

Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near. Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked man his thoughts; Let him turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord (Is 55,6-8).

Truly God’s ways are not the ways of the Pharisees, of the scribes, of the chief priests and of the keepers of the religion of Jesus’ time. However, they are all ways of Jesus. He came to seek what was lost. Until man does not enter into this truth that it is the sinner who needs God and not the righteous, never might there be a true religion. True religion does not condemn the sin. It seeks to offer it the forgiveness of its God, his grace so that it does not sin anymore; his mercy with which it will henceforth embrace all men. True religion is salvation of sin, never its condemnation.

He 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.”

True religion is faith in true hope. Man can get converted. He can stop sinning. He can walk in the Law of the Lord. He can begin to love. He can imitate Christ Jesus, the meek and humble at heart. He can work for the salvation of his brothers. Who were to exclude even one sinner from this hope of life and salvation, let him know that he is an enthusiast of a false religion, and he himself does not live by true religion. Jesus Christ did not come to condemn but to save, to seek who was lost to bring him back into his fold. This is the most pure truth of Jesus.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us of a pure and holy religion.