Tuesday - November 16, 2021
"The happy person in this life needs friends.”
― St. Thomas Aquina
TODAY'S READINGS
Tuesday
of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary:
498
Reading 1 2 Mc 6:18-31
Eleazar, one of the foremost scribes,
a man of advanced age and noble appearance,
was being forced to open his mouth to eat pork.
But preferring a glorious death to a life of defilement,
he spat out the meat,
and went forward of his own accord to the instrument of torture,
as people ought to do who have the courage to reject the food
which it is unlawful to taste even for love of life.
Those in charge of that unlawful ritual meal took the man aside privately,
because of their long acquaintance with him,
and urged him to bring meat of his own providing,
such as he could legitimately eat,
and to pretend to be eating some of the meat of the sacrifice
prescribed by the king;
in this way he would escape the death penalty,
and be treated kindly because of their old friendship with him.
But Eleazar made up his mind in a noble manner,
worthy of his years, the dignity of his advanced age,
the merited distinction of his gray hair,
and of the admirable life he had lived from childhood;
and so he declared that above all
he would be loyal to the holy laws given by God.
He told them to send him at once
to the abode of the dead, explaining:
“At our age it would be unbecoming to make such a pretense;
many young people would think the ninety-year-old Eleazar
had gone over to an alien religion.
Should I thus pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life,
they would be led astray by me,
while I would bring shame and dishonor on my old age.
Even if, for the time being, I avoid the punishment of men,
I shall never, whether alive or dead,
escape the hands of the Almighty.
Therefore, by manfully giving up my life now,
I will prove myself worthy of my old age,
and I will leave to the young a noble example
of how to die willingly and generously
for the revered and holy laws.”
Eleazar spoke thus,
and went immediately to the instrument of torture.
Those who shortly before had been kindly disposed,
now became hostile toward him because what he had said
seemed to them utter madness.
When he was about to die under the blows,
he groaned and said:
“The Lord in his holy knowledge knows full well that,
although I could have escaped death,
I am not only enduring terrible pain in my body from this scourging,
but also suffering it with joy in my soul
because of my devotion to him.”
This is how he died,
leaving in his death a model of courage
and an unforgettable example of virtue
not only for the young but for the whole nation.
Responsorial Psalm 3:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. (6b) The Lord upholds me.
O LORD, how many are my adversaries!
Many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
“There is no salvation for him in God.”
R. The Lord upholds me.
But you, O LORD, are my shield;
my glory, you lift up my head!
When I call out to the LORD,
he answers me from his holy mountain.
R. The Lord upholds me.
When I lie down in sleep,
I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
I fear not the myriads of people
arrayed against me on every side.
R. The Lord upholds me.
Alleluia 1 Jn 4:10b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God loved us, and sent his Son
as expiation for our sins.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Lk 19:1-10
At that time 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,
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.”
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they 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.”
*****************
Not too short on Grace
In today's Gospel reading, we have Zacchaeus, a man who was too short to see Jesus when surrounded by a crowd. But he was not short in determination! He was so eager to experience Jesus that he did something that no one else was doing: He climbed a tree. Maybe it was embarrassing. Maybe people thought he was weird. Maybe someone tried to talk him down. Maybe the tree was rough and tore his skin. But that didn't stop him.
Jesus was very pleased by his determination and creative problem-solving. Our Lord singled him out to give him special attention and to dine with him and assure him of his salvation.
What is too "short" in your life? What in your spirituality is too small? And how can you ingeniously overcome this handicap so that you can see Jesus better? He's waiting for you to want him so much that your motivation is pure and your determination is strong. Then he will pay you a special visit and dine with you at the banquet of the Eucharist and assure you of his eternal love.
Does it seem like your prayer power is too small? That's because Jesus won't snap his fingers like a magic genie to answer your prayers. He wants to meet you in your problems and walk with you in the darkness and bring his saving grace to your need.
It is right and good to feel inadequate when facing difficulties. Jesus wants you to rely on his Holy Spirit instead of your abilities. When we become aware that we're short on whatever is needed to endure a trial or to love the unlikable or to reach the hearts of those who are closed, we realize how much we must depend upon God. Through this, we grow in humility and grace.
Thanks to his humility, Zacchaeus could ignore the mockery of those who might have scoffed at his tree-climbing enthusiasm. Because of his humility, Zacchaeus repented of his greed by over-generously giving back to the people he'd defrauded. Due to such enthusiastic humility, Zacchaeus had the honor of receiving the Lord into his home.
In such humility, Zacchaeus received abundant grace. After all, it was God's grace that enabled him to think outside the box of normal behavior and climb a tree, and it was God's grace that helped him repent of his sins.
God is continually offering us all the help that we need to live in holiness. Zacchaeus responded to that grace; look at the results! The same can happen for you in your day-to-day struggle to live a good and holy life.
Whatever we're "too short" on, in whatever ways we feel inadequate, there is never any shortage of grace. All we have to do is realize that we need -- and want -- God's help. Once we do, we enter into the unfolding graces of God's plan.
Today's Prayer
Everything is well worth it, Lord, when I discover that Your love is everything for me. Amen.
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