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The One Whom Jesus Loved / El Amado de Jesús

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In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season we must stay grounded in Christ. As the days are short, and cold, it is time to embrace the light of Christ and carve out time to cultivate prayer and reflect on this beautiful Saint, John the Apostle and Evangelist. On this day we recall “the one whom Jesus loved.”  Tradition holds that he outlived the other Apostles, dying around the year 101 AD, and is the only Apostle who died of natural causes, not martyrdom. He was also the only Apostle of Jesus who had the strength to stand at the foot of the cross during our Lord’s crucifixion and death. 

On this feast day 351 years ago Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and invited her to be the Disciple of the Sacred Heart. St. Margaret wrote, “He made me rest for a long time on His divine breast, where He discovered to me the wonders of His love and the inexplicable secrets of His Sacred Heart.” He allowed her to encounter the same Heart that St. John the Apostle encountered as he rested his head on the chest of Christ at the Last Supper. On this day in the 12 Century, Jesus also invited St. Gertrude to rest her head on His chest and listen to the heartbeat of the Lord. 

In today’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene panicked as she didn’t know where Jesus’ body was. Her heart must have been breaking as she had just watched the bloody and horrific crucifixion, and now his body had gone missing! This Gospel stresses the importance of staying close to the Lord, trusting the Lord, and allowing the Lord to lead us, even when life is very difficult. This Scripture reveals the importance of obedience and trust. It reveals that shortly after the triumph of the cross comes the power of the empty tomb. Our Lord was born to die and open the gates of eternal life for us through His resurrection.

Imagine the joy that came in knowing that His body had not been taken, but rather that He had resurrected from the dead. Jesus wants to calm our hearts and give us the joy of following His path and plan. In the midst of this joyful season after Christmas, may we carve out time to reflect on our faith and how the Lord desires to bring us peace and joy within our hearts. 

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En medio del ajetreo de la temporada navideña debemos permanecer arraigados en Cristo. Como los días son cortos y fríos, es hora de abrazar la luz de Cristo y sacar tiempo para cultivar la oración y reflexionar sobre este hermoso Santo, Juan el Apóstol y Evangelista. En este día recordamos a aquel “a quien Jesús amaba”. La tradición sostiene que sobrevivió a los otros Apóstoles, muriendo alrededor del año 101 d.C., y es el único Apóstol que murió por causas naturales, no por martirio. También fue el único Apóstol de Jesús que tuvo la fuerza para permanecer al pie de la cruz durante la crucifixión y muerte de nuestro Señor.

En este día festivo hace 351 años Jesús se apareció a Santa Margarita María Alacoque y la invitó a ser Discípula del Sagrado Corazón. Santa Margarita escribió: “Me hizo descansar durante mucho tiempo en su divino pecho, donde me descubrió las maravillas de su amor y los secretos inexplicables de su Sagrado Corazón”. Jesús le permitió encontrar el mismo Corazón que encontró San Juan el Apóstol cuando apoyó su cabeza en el pecho de Cristo en la Última Cena. En este día durante el siglo XII, Jesús también invitó a Santa Gertrudis a apoyar su cabeza en Su pecho y escuchar los latidos del corazón del Señor.

En el Evangelio de hoy, María Magdalena entró en pánico porque no sabía dónde estaba el cuerpo de Jesús. Su corazón debe haber estado rompiéndose porque acababa de ver la sangrienta y horrible crucifixión, ¡y ahora su cuerpo había desaparecido! Este Evangelio enfatiza la importancia de permanecer cerca del Señor, confiar en el Señor y permitir que el Señor nos guíe, incluso cuando la vida es muy difícil. Esta Escritura revela la importancia de la obediencia y la confianza. Revela que poco después del triunfo de la cruz viene el poder de la tumba vacía. Nuestro Señor nació para morir y abrirnos las puertas de la vida eterna a través de Su resurrección.

Imagine la alegría que sintió al saber que no habían llevado Su cuerpo, sino que había resucitado de entre los muertos. Jesús quiere calmar nuestros corazones y darnos la alegría de seguir su camino y su plan. En medio de esta alegre temporada de la Navidad, dediquemos tiempo a reflexionar sobre la fe y sobre cómo el Señor desea traer paz y alegría a nuestros corazones.

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Emily Jaminet is a Catholic author, speaker, radio personality, wife, and mother of seven children. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mental health and human services from the Franciscan University of Steubenville.  She is the co-founder of www.inspirethefaith.com and the Executive Director of The Sacred Heart Enthronement Network www.WelcomeHisHeart.com. She has co-authored several Catholic books and her latest one, Secrets of the Sacred Heart: Claiming Jesus’ Twelve Promises in Your Life, came out in Oct. 2020. Emily serves on the board of the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference, contributes to Relevant Radio and Catholic Mom.com.

Feature Image Credit: Stock Photo, art.diocesan.com/stock-photo/deign-to-speak-to-my-heart-and-make-me-listen-to-you-12993/

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Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr

Reading 1 Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59

Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people.
Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,
Cyrenians, and Alexandrians,
and people from Cilicia and Asia,
came forward and debated with Stephen,
but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.

When they heard this, they were infuriated,
and they ground their teeth at him.
But he, filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked up intently to heaven
and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
and he said,
“Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God.”
But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears,
and rushed upon him together.
They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.
The witnesses laid down their cloaks
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
As they were stoning Stephen, he called out
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 31:3cd-4, 6 and 8ab, 16bc and 17

R. (6) Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety.
You are my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake you will lead and guide me.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

Alleluia Ps 118:26a, 27a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD:
the LORD is God and has given us light.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mt 10:17-22

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

– – –

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Joy in the Midst of Sorrow / Gozo en Medio del Dolor

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It’s always been odd to me to have a feast of the first martyr the day after Christmas. Yes, as Christians, we know difficult things will be required of us, but does that mean we have to have a reminder right after we celebrate Jesus coming into the world? Can we just have joy for a little bit?  

Based on my research, the reason this day was chosen as the feast of St. Stephen was because on this day in the 5th century, the relics of St. Stephen were discovered after having been forgotten for centuries. But, as I’ve often discovered in my own life, the reasons and ways of God are subject to multiple interpretations, and life is often both/and, not either/or.

While on this date God did restore the relics of the first martyr to us, it’s also a stark reminder to us that, amid our Christmas joy, Jesus came to us to die. God’s plan was beyond anything we ever could have imagined, but it involved sorrow and death. 

But as we already know, sorrow and death weren’t the final answer. Everlasting joy and the beauty of Heaven wait for us who believe and live as we believe. I think that’s another reason why we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen on this day: Christ coming to the earth only prefigured the sorrow he would experience on the Cross, and the sorrow of the martyrs who would give their lives for the sake of the Gospel. On the other side of death, however, is everlasting life. 

So is the Feast of St. Stephen on December 26th a stark reminder of what we are called to as Christians? Absolutely. But it is also a reminder of the promise of Heaven. That is why, even as we commemorate St. Stephen’s martyrdom, our joy is complete.  

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Siempre me ha parecido extraño celebrar la fiesta del primer mártir el día después de la Navidad. Sí, como cristianos, sabemos que se nos exigirán cosas difíciles, pero ¿eso significa que tenemos que tener un recordatorio justo después de celebrar la llegada de Jesús al mundo? ¿No podemos ser gozosos un rato, por lo menos?

Según mi investigación, la razón por la que se eligió este día como la fiesta de San Esteban fue porque en este día del siglo V se descubrieron las reliquias de San Esteban después de haber estado olvidadas durante siglos. Pero, como he descubierto a menudo en mi propia vida, las razones y los caminos de Dios están sujetos a múltiples interpretaciones, y la vida a menudo incluye ambas cosas, no una u otra.

Si bien en esta fecha Dios nos devolvió las reliquias del primer mártir, también es un duro recordatorio para nosotros de que, en medio de la alegría navideña, Jesús vino a nosotros para morir. El plan de Dios estaba más allá de todo lo que pudiéramos haber imaginado, pero implicaba dolor y muerte.

Pero como ya sabemos, el dolor y la muerte no fueron la respuesta final. El gozo eterno y la belleza del Cielo nos esperan a los que creemos y vivimos como creemos. Creo que esa es otra razón por la que celebramos la fiesta de San Esteban en este día: la venida de Cristo a la tierra prefiguró el dolor que experimentaría en la cruz y el dolor de los mártires que darían sus vidas por el Evangelio. Sin embargo, al otro lado de la muerte está la vida eterna.

Entonces, ¿la fiesta de San Esteban, el 26 de diciembre, es un duro recordatorio de lo que estamos llamados a hacer como cristianos? Absolutamente. Pero también es un recordatorio de la promesa del Cielo. Es por eso que, incluso cuando conmemoramos el martirio de San Esteban, nuestro gozo puede ser completo.

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Mary Thissen is a St. Louis native living in East Central Illinois with her husband and children. She is blessed with twin boys Earthside and four children now living in Heaven. When she is not working as a healthcare data analyst or caring for her boys, she enjoys studying and writing about the Catholic faith and ministering to women who are suffering through miscarriage or infertility. You can connect with Mary on Instagram @waitingonmiracles. 

Feature Image Credit: Franz Xaver Wagenschon, art.diocesan.com/stock-photo/stoning-of-saint-stephen-14400/

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Knowing Christ, Our Peace / Conociéndo a Cristo, Nuestro Paz

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In the Bible I keep on my desk at work, today’s Gospel passage has the heading “The Lament of Jerusalem.” That makes sense. Throughout the whole passage, Jesus is certainly lamenting over the city of Jerusalem. It even says that He weeps over it before speaking about what will happen if Jerusalem does not begin to know “what makes for peace,” and it’s not pretty. 

It makes me wonder what Jesus would say and do if He walked past one of our cities today and saw the state of our culture. Talk about a lament. If we use this past Sunday’s Gospel as a measuring stick, we have nation turning against nation, people turning against one another, wars and so much more. It begs the question – do we ourselves know what makes for peace? Does our society know what makes for peace? Survey says … not really. 

There is such a desire for peace in the world today. That’s why many people will jokingly say that they want “world peace” for Christmas or their birthdays – because they see war, strife, discord and more in the world today. All of that adds up to a lack of peace. And often, they make this response jokingly, knowing full well that they will never actually get world peace as a gift.

Would we be desiring peace if we had peace already? Perhaps, because we know exactly what we’re asking for we would surely want more of it. But I have to believe that the reason so many people want peace in the world is because they don’t see peace or are experiencing a lack of peace for themselves. 

The reason Jerusalem did not know peace and soon would be in ruins was because it did not know Jesus or accept Him as the Messiah. Jesus is the one who brings peace. Especially in recent years, our society has rejected Jesus and everything to do with Christianity. 

So what can we do to bring Jesus Christ to the world, to bring peace into the world? We must take our mission of evangelization seriously – to “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mt. 28:19-20) We must share the message of Jesus with the world so that the world comes to know Him and love Him and can experience the peace He offers. 

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En la Biblia que tengo en mi escritorio en el trabajo, el pasaje del Evangelio de hoy tiene el título “El Lamento de Jerusalén”. Eso tiene sentido. A lo largo de todo el pasaje, Jesús ciertamente se lamenta por la ciudad de Jerusalén. Incluso dice que Él llora por eso antes de hablar de lo que sucederá si Jerusalén no comienza a saber “lo que hace a la paz”, y no es bonito.

Me hace preguntarme qué diría y haría Jesús si pasara por una de nuestras ciudades hoy y viera el estado de nuestra cultura. Habla de un lamento. Si usamos el Evangelio del domingo pasado como vara de medir, tenemos nación volviéndose contra nación, gente volviéndose unos contra otros, guerras y mucho más. Plantea la pregunta: ¿sabemos nosotros mismos lo que contribuye a la paz? ¿Sabe nuestra sociedad lo que contribuye a la paz? La verdad que no.

Hay mucho deseo de paz en el mundo de hoy. Es por eso que muchas personas dicen en broma que quieren “la paz mundial” para Navidad o sus cumpleaños, porque ven guerra, lucha, discordia y más en el mundo de hoy. Todo eso se suma a la falta de paz, y a menudo, dan esta respuesta en broma, sabiendo muy bien que en realidad nunca obtendrán la paz mundial como regalo.

¿Estaríamos deseando la paz si ya tuviéramos la paz? Tal vez, porque sabemos exactamente lo que estamos pidiendo, seguramente querríamos más. Pero tengo que creer que la razón por la que tantas personas quieren la paz en el mundo es porque no ven la paz o están experimentando una falta de paz para ellos mismos.

La razón por la que Jerusalén no conoció la paz y pronto estaría en ruinas fue porque no conoció a Jesús ni lo aceptó como el Mesías. Jesús es el que trae la paz. Especialmente en los últimos años, nuestra sociedad ha rechazado a Jesús y todo lo que tiene que ver con el cristianismo.

Entonces, ¿qué podemos hacer para traer a Jesucristo al mundo, para traer paz al mundo? Debemos tomar en serio nuestra misión de evangelizar: “Id, pues, y haced discípulos a todas las naciones, bautizándolos en el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo, enseñándoles a guardar todo lo que te he ordenado.” (Mt 28,19-20) Debemos compartir el mensaje de Jesús con el mundo para que el mundo llegue a conocerlo y amarlo y pueda experimentar la paz que Él ofrece.

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Erin is a Cleveland native and graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville. She is passionate about the Lord Jesus, all things college sports and telling stories and she is blessed enough to get paid for all three of her passions as a full-time youth minister and a freelance sports writer.

Feature Image Credit: Jonathan Meyer, unsplash.com/photos/e9IHjxScV48

St. Hugh of Lincoln: Saint of the Day for Thursday, November 17, 2022

Hugh of Lincoln was the son of William, Lord of Avalon. He was born at Avalon Castle in Burgundy and was raised and educated at a convent at Villard-Benoit after his mother died when he was eight. He was professed at fifteen, ordained a deacon at nineteen, and was made prior of a monastery at Saint-Maxim. While visiting the Grande Chartreuse with his prior in 1160. It was then he decided to become a Carthusian there and was ordained. After ten years, he was named procurator and in 1175 became …

Prayer to Saint Anthony of Padua, Performer of Miracles: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, November 17, 2022

Dear Saint Anthony,

Your prayers obtained miracles during your lifetime. You still seem to move at ease in the realm of minor and major miracles.

Saint Anthony, Performer of Miracles, please obtain for me the blessings God holds in reserve for those who serve Him. Pray that I may be worthy of the promises my Lord Jesus attaches to confident prayer.

[mention your special intentions]

Franciscan Mission Associates

All We Need, And More / Todo lo Que Necesitamos y Hasta Más

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Does your parish church have stained glass windows? From the outside, the windows look dark and dull, but when you are inside the Church, they are richly and brilliantly illuminated.

That is another kind of parable for the lesson of Jesus in today’s Gospel. We see Jesus Himself as the “nobleman” who went to obtain a kingship, giving ten of his servants a gold coin worth 100 days’ wages before he left, giving them specific instructions to “engage in trade” with them. After he became king, he returned to check the “return on investment,” as it were.

These coins can be seen as the talents and graces we are freely given. The Lord gives us everything and invites us to freely put our gifts and our lives in his service and the service of others. He asks us to use what we have (without comparing it to what others have!) to engage fully in life, to help others, and to glorify God. To those who do this generously, Jesus promises a generous reward!

But if we refuse to use what we have been given, it will be as if we have chosen to remain outside the church building in the cold, seeing it as a stone mountain into which we dare not enter. From outside, we cannot see the light streaming in through the colored windows or enter into the hymns of praise rising up from the People of God or partake of the rich banquet of the Body and Blood of Christ. We, therefore, keep ourselves separated from communion with God and His family!

Many things can keep us from fully engaging our gifts: fear, selfishness, ingratitude. We may not really know what we have or what we can do; we may be using our energies to satisfy our own wants and forgetting to look at ways to serve others; we may be blinded by a conviction that we really don’t have enough to give; we may be afraid of the risks of taking our spiritual responsibility seriously; we may be focused on counting the costs. All of these attitudes and more can impel us to “wrap our coin in a handkerchief” rather than “engage in trade”!

Where do we begin to shift engagement? We can begin by making sure that our relationship with God truly has first place in our lives. Then we can take a look at the duties and responsibilities before us, in our family and at work, and assess whether we are doing all we can for the people around us. Next, we can look at our parish, to see where we might be of service to further the mission of the Church!

We need not fear that we will run out of anything. If we are doing what God calls us to do, we are given more! When we engage our gifts and talents in His service, we will always have all we need.

¿Tu iglesia parroquial tiene vitrales? Desde el exterior, las ventanas se ven oscuras y aburridas, pero cuando estás dentro de la Iglesia, están ricamente y brillantemente iluminadas.

Ese es otro tipo de parábola para la lección de Jesús en el Evangelio de hoy. Vemos a Jesús mismo como el “hombre noble” que fue a obtener un reinado, dando a diez de sus sirvientes una moneda de oro por valor de 100 días de salario antes de irse, dándoles instrucciones específicas para “comerciar” con ellos. Después de convertirse en rey, regresó para verificar el “retorno de la inversión”, por así decirlo.

Estas monedas pueden verse como los talentos y las gracias que se nos dan gratuitamente. El Señor nos da todo y nos invita a poner libremente nuestros dones y nuestra vida a su servicio y al servicio de los demás. Nos pide que usemos lo que tenemos (¡sin compararlo con lo que tienen los demás!) para participar plenamente en la vida, para ayudar a los demás y para glorificar a Dios. ¡A los que hacen esto generosamente, Jesús les promete una generosa recompensa!

Pero si nos negamos a usar lo que se nos ha dado, será como si hubiésemos optado por permanecer fuera del edificio de la iglesia en el frío, viéndolo como una montaña de piedra en la que no nos atrevemos a entrar. Desde fuera no podemos ver la luz que se cuela por los vitrales, ni entrar en los himnos de alabanza que se elevan del Pueblo de Dios, ni participar del rico banquete del Cuerpo y la Sangre de Cristo. ¡Nosotros, por lo tanto, nos mantenemos separados de la comunión con Dios y su familia!

Muchas cosas pueden impedirnos utilizar plenamente nuestros dones: el miedo, el egoísmo, la ingratitud. Puede que no sepamos realmente lo que tenemos o lo que podemos hacer; podemos estar usando nuestras energías para satisfacer nuestros propios deseos y olvidando de buscar formas de servir a los demás; podemos estar cegados por la convicción de que realmente no tenemos suficiente para dar; podemos tener miedo de los riesgos de tomar en serio nuestra responsabilidad espiritual; podemos estar enfocados en lo que nos cuesta. ¡Todas estas actitudes y más pueden impulsarnos a “envolver nuestra moneda en un pañuelo” en lugar de “comerciar”!

¿Dónde empezamos a cambiar el compromiso? Podemos comenzar asegurándonos de que nuestra relación con Dios realmente tenga el primer lugar en nuestras vidas. Entonces podemos echar un vistazo a los deberes y responsabilidades que tenemos ante nosotros, en nuestra familia y en el trabajo, y evaluar si estamos haciendo todo lo posible por las personas que nos rodean. ¡Luego, podemos mirar a nuestra parroquia, para ver dónde podemos ser de servicio para promover la misión de la Iglesia!

No debemos temer que nos quedemos sin nada. Si estamos haciendo lo que Dios nos llama a hacer, ¡se nos da más! Cuando dedicamos nuestros dones y talentos a Su servicio, siempre tendremos todo lo que necesitamos.

Featured Image Credit: Bjorn Pierre, unsplash.com/photos/-clf0K7plGM

This reflection was reposted from Diocesan Archives. Author: Kathryn Mulderink, MA

St. Margaret of Scotland: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, November 16, 2022

St. Margaret of Scotland, or Margaret of Wessex, was an English princess born in Hungary to Princess Agatha of Hungary and English Prince Edward the Exile around 1045. Her siblings, Cristina and Edgar the Atheling were also born in Hungary around this time.

Margaret and her family returned to England when she was 10-years-old and her father was called back as a potential successor to the throne. However, Edward died immediately after the family arrived, but Margaret and Edgar continued to …

Prayer for Life: Prayer of the Day for Wednesday, November 16, 2022

O God, our Creator, all life is in your hands from conception until death. Help us to cherish our children and to reverence the awesome privilege of our share in creation. May all people live and die in dignity and love. Bless all those who defend the rights of the unborn, the handicapped and the aged. Enlighten and be merciful toward those who fail to love, and give them peace. Let freedom be tempered by responsibility, integrity and morality.

Holiness / La Santidad

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Sometimes, Jesus changed his plans. But it seems the only reason he ever changed his plans was out of love.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus intends to pass through Jericho, but his loving desire to save Zacchaeus changes his plans. Zacchaeus is not a pious saint; he is a wealthy man, a chief tax collector, a sinner in the eyes of others. He is, in many ways, lost. But Jesus came “to seek and save what was lost,” and so he is eager to reward the effort of this poor sinner by telling him to “come down quickly” and inviting himself into his home.

Zacchaeus may not have understood his own motivation for climbing that tree to get a glimpse of Jesus. Maybe it seemed initially like superficial curiosity, maybe he had climbed trees before, being “short in stature.” But he follows that good impulse and Jesus meets him right there, and draws him more deeply into his gaze, into his heart. And Zacchaeus responds by receiving the grace that is being offered, repenting of his greed, repaying any extortion fourfold, and giving away half of his possessions to the poor.

Sometimes we become stuck by believing that we will never make real progress in spiritual things because of our own inadequacy, because we are “short in stature” spiritually. And it is true that, by ourselves and our own resources, we can do nothing. But we are not on our own! The Lord is just as eager to draw us into his gaze and into his heart as he was to draw Zacchaeus to repentance. The Lord always meets us more than halfway and brings us to the next level. If we take a step toward him, he takes two steps toward us. If we put forth an effort to know him, he looks at us and receives us. If we acknowledge our own weakness, he becomes our strength. If we hold up our brokenness, he heals us. Whatever we open to him, he fills abundantly!

So let us all resolve to never give into the temptation to be discouraged or to believe that we cannot become holy, or that holiness is not for us. Instead, let us put all our hope in the Lord, who lovingly came “to seek and save what was lost” and whose Divine Creativity never fails to find ways to draw us to himself.

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A veces, Jesús cambiaba sus planes. Pero parece que la única razón por la que cambió sus planes fue por amor.

En el evangelio de hoy, Jesús se propone pasar por Jericó, pero su deseo amoroso de salvar a Zaqueo cambia sus planes. Zaqueo no es un santo piadoso; es un hombre rico, un jefe de los recaudadores de impuestos, un pecador a los ojos de los demás. Está, en muchos sentidos, perdido. Pero “el Hijo del hombre ha venido a buscar y a salvar lo que se había perdido”, por lo que está deseoso de recompensar el esfuerzo de este pobre pecador diciéndole “bájate pronto” e invitándose a sí mismo a su casa.

Es posible que Zaqueo no haya entendido su propia motivación para trepar a ese árbol para ver a Jesús. Tal vez inicialmente parecía una curiosidad superficial, tal vez había trepado a los árboles antes, siendo “de baja estatura”. Pero sigue ese buen impulso y Jesús lo encuentra allí mismo, y lo atrae más profundamente a su mirada, a su corazón. Y Zaqueo responde recibiendo la gracia que se le ofrece, arrepintiéndose de su avaricia, pagando cuatro veces cualquier extorsión y entregando la mitad de sus bienes a los pobres.

A veces nos atascamos al creer que nunca lograremos un progreso real en las cosas espirituales debido a nuestra propia insuficiencia, porque espiritualmente somos “de baja estatura”. Y es verdad que, por nosotros mismos y con nuestros propios recursos, no podemos hacer nada. ¡Pero no estamos solos! El Señor está tan deseoso de atraernos a su mirada y a su corazón como lo estaba de atraer a Zaqueo al arrepentimiento. El Señor siempre nos encuentra a más de la mitad del camino y nos lleva al siguiente nivel. Si damos un paso hacia él, él da dos pasos hacia nosotros. Si nos esforzamos por conocerlo, él nos mira y nos recibe. Si reconocemos nuestra propia debilidad, él se convierte en nuestra fuerza. Si levantamos nuestro quebrantamiento, él nos sana. Todo lo que le abrimos, ¡Él lo llena abundantemente!

Así que tomemos la determinación de nunca ceder a la tentación de desanimarnos o de creer que no podemos llegar a ser santos, o que la santidad no es para nosotros. En cambio, pongamos toda nuestra esperanza en el Señor, que amorosamente vino a “buscar y a salvar lo que se había perdido” y cuya Divina Creatividad siempre encuentra formas de atraernos hacia él.

Comunicarse con la autora

Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Father Rob), and seven grandchildren. She is President of the local community of Secular Discalced Carmelites and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 30 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio. Currently, she serves the Church by writing and speaking, and by collaborating with various parishes and to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is www.KathrynTherese.com

Feature Image Credit: Rita Laura, cathopic.com/photo/15994-via-crucis-al-atardecer