I think it is very important for me today to begin with the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Now I’m not just quoting a prayer, I’m praying this prayer in front of all of you today, on my own behalf, because my friends, Deacon Greg Thompson is a sinner!
But as we heard in today’s First Reading from Wisdom, “before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.But [the Lord has] mercy on all, because [God] can do all things; and overlook people's sins that they may repent.
That they may repent… Today is about CHANGE, and that change must begin with a very heartfelt I’m sorry… So, I am sorry! When I go to confession, and I pray the Act of Contrition. There are two versions that we display in our confessionals here at the Parish. One uses a more traditional style of language:
O My God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.
The other uses a more contemporary language:
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do what is good, I have sinned against You whom I should love above all things, I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ, suffered and died for us. In His name, my God, have mercy. Amen.
The Psalmist affirms the need for this heartfelt approach, for “the LORD lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.”
Let’s pray the Jesus Prayer again…
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Now let’s take a deep breath, and break open the truly Good News of todays Word!
You are not alone! As St. Paul put it to the Thessalonians, “We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.
Did you hear that? We are all praying for you… right now… as we gather here to be fed and nourished, for “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.” This Cross… Our Lord… This table… His body… It is for you!
The Gospel of Luke today tells us about a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and a wealthy man. Like you coming to Mass today, he was seeking just to see who Jesus was. Now here’s my favorite part. 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.” Him a tree, me – this stepping stool!
Jesus looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
On Sunday mornings at 10am we gather for Adult Ed down in the basement. Today, we’re finishing up a series on knowing more about prayer. Our series started back in September with this very Gospel. We reflected on it as a model of prayer! Simply put, when you meet the Lord in prayer, sometimes all you have to do is put yourself in a place where he can find you. Notice that Zachaeus just wanted a glimpse, but the Lord locked eyes with him. The Lord came to him and said that he wanted to be in his life. Did you catch that? A lot of times we approach the Lord “hoping” that he’ll hear our prayer, and maybe grant us forgiveness, almost as if going to confession is like a job interview… No. Jesus looks for us and asks us to allow him to come into our hearts!
Now maybe rightly so, but because of the reputation of tax collectors, folks began to grumble, saying that Jesus is going to “stay at the house of a sinner." Now while it’s not included in this story, we can all see the face of our Lord reacting to such grumbling, as if to say in reply… “Yep! That’s where I’m going alright!” But notice what Zacchaeus said to the Lord in this moment: "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."
THAT’S REPENTANCE!
THAT’S A WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE!
THAT’S SAYING THAT I WILL TRY TO SIN NO MORE!
And Jesus said to him as he says to us… "Today salvation has come to this house because this one too is a descendant of Abraham,” a child of God!
You see, the Good News today is that you need not search for forgiveness. And you need not hope to find Jesus… “For the Son of Man has come to seek out and to save what was lost” and help make it new again… Yes, in a few minutes our Lord finds us in the Eucharist as Fr. will raise the host and say, “Behold the Lamb…,” and , we’ll respond quoting a grateful Centurion when we say, ““Lord, I m not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”
Let us close with this prayer…: “Son of God have mercy on us, because we know you can do all things. And we know that your people, this church, is praying that you Lord can make us worthy of your calling and powerfully bring to us the fulfillment of every good purposeand every effort of faith. Lord Jesus may our lives be glorified in you, and you in us, in accordance with your grace.” +
Now I’m not just quoting a prayer, I’m praying this prayer in front of all of you today, on my own behalf, because my friends, Deacon Greg Thompson is a sinner!
But as we heard in today’s First Reading from Wisdom, “before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.But [the Lord has] mercy on all, because [God] can do all things; and overlook people's sins that they may repent.
That they may repent… Today is about CHANGE, and that change must begin with a very heartfelt I’m sorry… So, I am sorry! When I go to confession, and I pray the Act of Contrition. There are two versions that we display in our confessionals here at the Parish. One uses a more traditional style of language:
O My God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.
The other uses a more contemporary language:
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do what is good, I have sinned against You whom I should love above all things, I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ, suffered and died for us. In His name, my God, have mercy. Amen.
The Psalmist affirms the need for this heartfelt approach, for “the LORD lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.”
Let’s pray the Jesus Prayer again…
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Now let’s take a deep breath, and break open the truly Good News of todays Word!
You are not alone! As St. Paul put it to the Thessalonians, “We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.
Did you hear that? We are all praying for you… right now… as we gather here to be fed and nourished, for “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.” This Cross… Our Lord… This table… His body… It is for you!
The Gospel of Luke today tells us about a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and a wealthy man. Like you coming to Mass today, he was seeking just to see who Jesus was. Now here’s my favorite part. 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.” Him a tree, me – this stepping stool!
Jesus looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
On Sunday mornings at 10am we gather for Adult Ed down in the basement. Today, we’re finishing up a series on knowing more about prayer. Our series started back in September with this very Gospel. We reflected on it as a model of prayer! Simply put, when you meet the Lord in prayer, sometimes all you have to do is put yourself in a place where he can find you. Notice that Zachaeus just wanted a glimpse, but the Lord locked eyes with him. The Lord came to him and said that he wanted to be in his life. Did you catch that? A lot of times we approach the Lord “hoping” that he’ll hear our prayer, and maybe grant us forgiveness, almost as if going to confession is like a job interview… No. Jesus looks for us and asks us to allow him to come into our hearts!
Now maybe rightly so, but because of the reputation of tax collectors, folks began to grumble, saying that Jesus is going to “stay at the house of a sinner." Now while it’s not included in this story, we can all see the face of our Lord reacting to such grumbling, as if to say in reply… “Yep! That’s where I’m going alright!” But notice what Zacchaeus said to the Lord in this moment: "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."
THAT’S REPENTANCE!
THAT’S A WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE!
THAT’S SAYING THAT I WILL TRY TO SIN NO MORE!
And Jesus said to him as he says to us… "Today salvation has come to this house because this one too is a descendant of Abraham,” a child of God!
You see, the Good News today is that you need not search for forgiveness. And you need not hope to find Jesus… “For the Son of Man has come to seek out and to save what was lost” and help make it new again… Yes, in a few minutes our Lord finds us in the Eucharist as Fr. will raise the host and say, “Behold the Lamb…,” and , we’ll respond quoting a grateful Centurion when we say, ““Lord, I m not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”
Let us close with this prayer…: “Son of God have mercy on us, because we know you can do all things. And we know that your people, this church, is praying that you Lord can make us worthy of your calling and powerfully bring to us the fulfillment of every good purposeand every effort of faith. Lord Jesus may our lives be glorified in you, and you in us, in accordance with your grace.” +
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