TO SEEK AND TO SAVE WHAT WAS LOST

Rev 3,1-6 .14-2 2; Ps 14; Lk 19,1-10
20 NOVEMBER
Looking for who is lost is proper of the mercy of the Lord. After having manifested all the omnipotence of his creative power, the Lord immediately reveals the omnipotence of his power of mercy, piety, forgiveness and promise of salvation. The history of humanity is essentially marked by the compassion and mercy of God. Without the work of divine mercy, nothing would make sense. We would all be condemned to eternal death.

The Lord God then called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me – she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.” The Lord God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel” (Gen 3,8-15).

In the history of Israel God is always the one who seeks the sinner to invite him to conversion, in repentance and the heartfelt request for forgiveness. David is an example.

The Lord sent Nathan to David, and when he came to him, he said: “In a certain town there were two men, one rich, the other poor. The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers. But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He nourished her, and she grew up with him and his children. She shared the little food he had and drank from his cup and slept in his bosom. She was like a daughter to him. Now, the rich man received a visitor, but he would not take from his own flocks and herds to prepare a meal for the wayfarer who had come to him. Instead he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and made a meal of it for his visitor.” David grew very angry with that man and said to Nathan: “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this merits death! He shall restore the ewe lamb fourfold because he has done this and has had no pity.” Then Nathan said to David: “You are the man! Why have you spurned the Lord and done evil in his sight? You have cut down Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you took his wife as your own, and him you killed with the sword of the Ammonites. ‘” Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan answered David: “The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die. But since you have utterly spurned the Lord by this deed, the child born to you must surely die” (2Sam 12,1-14).

Jesus is sent by the Father to live this mystery in the flesh. He must look for what is lost and put in his heart the truth of God’s forgiveness and mercy. He must call every man to conversion, opening to all the doors so that they can access to the Father and obtain from him all compassion in the forgiveness of sins.

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.”

Certainly he is neither a child of God nor a disciple of Jesus who does not seek sinners to proclaim to them that their sin is already forgiven by their God. They must only ask for forgiveness in true conversion and repentance. It is their obligation.

Faithful Virgin, Angels and Saints ensure that we also call sinners to penitence.