Daily Reflections
by Cathy

Zacchaeus, Make Haste!!

 

(c) Mateo Ivankovic

November 7, 2018

Dear Family of Mary!

“…That is why I call you, apostles of my love: you, strive to look to the very depth in human hearts and there you are certain to find the little hidden treasure. To look in this way is mercy from the Heavenly Father. To seek the good even where there is the greatest evil-to strive to comprehend each other and not to judge-that is what my Son is asking of you. And I, as a mother, am calling you to listen to Him….” (November 2, 2018)

Jesus was able to comprehend the people He encountered, it seems, with perfect perception. He could look into the very depth of a human heart. He knew when someone was secretly seeking His Father. Jesus could look past the human categories that separate us one from another. He could see the smallest spark of good and call it forth. Yesterday we read from the Gospel of John about the woman caught in adultery. We contemplated Jesus’ wise response to the crowd. He who is without sin… Today let’s read about Zacchaeus, the very short tax collector and see what kind of treatment he gets from Jesus:

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:1-10)

Here we find Jesus in public again, walking through Jericho. People were all around him, the curious, the needy, and the critical. Clearly Jesus’ fame had preceded Him. Zacchaeus was really intrigued. He wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus, but he was not big enough to power his way to the front of the crowd, and he was not tall enough to see over the heads of the onlookers. So he decided to climb a sycamore tree.

For once, Zacchaeus’ wealth was no help. He had to humble himself and climb a tree! But Jesus doesn’t miss this humble act. “When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.'” Jesus looked into Zacchaeus’ eyes probably in much the same way He looked into the adulterous woman’s eyes. He looked deeply, and with love. He knew Zacchaeus, probably better that Zacchaeus knew himself. And He invited Himself for the night!

Jesus came to stay!! What a shock for all the people watching. They murmured. They thought they knew Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a sinner. No holy rabbi would stay with him…

And of course Zacchaeus spoke up, when he heard the murmuring. He owned up to his ill-gotten gain, and vowed to return what was taken by fraud, and give the rest to the poor. Having met Jesus, he no longer loved wealth. He loved Jesus and wanted to live a righteous life. Conversion was called forth instantaneously, through meeting Jesus.

Jesus found the treasure hidden in Zacchaeus, and called it forth. As with the woman, Jesus saw in Zacchaeus the real treasure within, the desire for God. All their false desires dissolved in an instant! They had found what they were looking for.

Notice how in both stories, the onlookers were judgmental and even scandalized by Jesus’ mercy and acceptance of the sinners. They had not learned to look with Jesus’ eyes of mercy, and could only see the surface of things. Jesus could see the good even where there was great evil. And Jesus could call forth that good. In doing so, Jesus also delivered them both from the evil they had chosen. He could deliver them from sin.

We may have a lot to learn before we can look with the eyes of mercy at our neighbors. But we can start by observing Jesus in the Gospels. He can teach us mercy. I notice that in both stories the mercy of Jesus does not cover up the sins of either person. Jesus does not gloss over sin, but confronts it by His presence, and calls forth a conversion. Sin is evil and not to be tolerated. But love will win!

Thank you, dearest Mother for calling us to this beautiful path of love that you walked with your Son, and which you both walk even today. Help us to follow you and learn from you the way of love.

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
© Mary TV 2018

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Mary TV is a lay apostolate founded to put at the Gospa’s service (Our Lady’s service) modern communication technologies to bring her presence in Medjugorje – and her school in Medjugorje – to the world.

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Vicka's Note MaryTV

Vicka, one of the visionaries in Medjugorje, wrote the note (above) after Our Lady spoke with her during an apparition in Medjugorje in April, 1999, about Mary TV’s  plan to build a television facility in Medjugorje.

Vicka wrote to Denis: “Our Lady says that the plan is good – but you need to wait a little.  Now you can get prepared little by little, until Our Lady tells when the right moment is.  You don’t need to hurry, make haste, but to be patient.”

When Our Lady said this to Vicka, the technical genius in Medjugorje that she had her eyes upon, who would begin Mary TV’s live streaming from Medjugorje, was seven years old.

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Immaculate Conception, Mary my Mother, Live in me, Act in me, Speak in me and through me, Think your thoughts in my mind, Love through my heart, Give me your dispositions and feelings, Teach, lead me and guide me to Jesus, Correct, enlighten and expand my thoughts and behavior, Possess my soul, Take over my entire personality and life, replace it with Yourself, Incline me to constant adoration, Pray in me and through me, Let me live in you and keep me in this union always.

Our Lady gave this prayer 25 years before She started appearing in Medjugorje. This prayer is being answered through Our Lady’s presence in Medjugorje and through Her messages. Mother Immaculata writes: “This is Mary’s hour and She is about to crush Satan’s head. Her very being is like incandescent heat in the center of the Trinity and the manifestation of Her power is growing daily. The Immaculate Conception prayer (which is what Our Lady called the prayer she gave me for union with Her) has been used by exorcists who have told me that the devil reacts violently to it and is subdued by it. We are praying daily for the success of Mary TV!“

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Mary_with_Sun

MARY TV was LIVE STREAMING Ivan’s May 24, 2013 apparition on Mt. Podbrdo (Apparition Hill) in Medjugorje. My wife, Cathy, was praying in front of her computer in the US, connected through the Internet, welcoming Our Lady along with everyone gathered on the mountain. She couldn’t see anything on her computer screen because it was late at night and Ivan had said, “No lights.” She found herself asking Our Lady for a sign – a little light – as a sign that MARY TV was on the right track and really serving her. Just after the apparition, when she went to give an account on Mary TV’s Facebook page, the page opened with this picture that she had never seen before, captioned: “MARY APPEARS OVER BUILDING IN MEDJUGORJE, PHOTO TAKEN BY PILGRIM.” Our Lady is standing directly over MARY TV’s studios, her feet right where we have two POV cameras STREAMING 24/7 LIVE TO THE WORLD Apparition Hill & Cross Mountain!

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