31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/110313.cfm

Recap:
1st reading - Wisdom - Our God is a merciful God
Psalm 145 - I will praise your name forever, my king and my God.
Epistle - 2 Thessalonians - Focus on God's Word and not false teachings.
Gospel - Luke 19 - Zacchaeus seeking Jesus and experiencing a deep encounter with Christ.

One thing I really like about the message from this weekend's Scriptures was the encounter with Christ.  Zacchaeus is changed when he seeks and finds Jesus.  Because Zacchaeus  as willing to change, Jesus had the opportunity to show Zacchaeus  another way.  This is pretty powerful stuff.  It's sometimes easy to put that story aside with one of two probably viewpoints.  1)  Nice story, makes for a good song for Sunday School, OR 2) Gosh, wouldn't it be neat to have that kind of personal encounter with Jesus?

Hmmm.  Well, it may make a fun song, but what's the deeper message of the song?  Zacchaeus was curious about Jesus, and wanted to learn more.  In expressing his desire (climbing a tree to see Jesus), Zacchaeus opened himself to an honest encounter with Christ.  And, we can and do encounter Jesus, if we are willing to look around (which may involved climbing out on a limb first).  We will have a hard time experiencing our God in the confines of our self-centered world.  Maybe it's time to get up, shake off our bad habits and old ways, and actively put ourselves in a place to encounter Christ.  Surprisingly, there are ways we already encounter Christ, but they may not be packaged the way we expect.  So, consider this an opportunity.  Take a bad habit and let it go.  Release yourself from that chain so you can move to reach Jesus.  Or open your eyes and your heart to a situation in your life that can be an encounter with Christ.  God is present in each person we meet, even the ones that challenge us.  So when we encounter another person, we encounter God.

Prayer - Lord, You know my challenges and struggles.  Help me to get out of my so I can fully seek You.  I want to know You, I want to see You, I want to reach You.