October 30, 2016

31st Sunday In Ordinary Time - A Reflection By Fr. Leo

 

Our scriptures today leave no room for fear of God.  Awe of God’s love, yes.  Fear, no!

 

After reminding us that our very existence in this moment is because of God’s love, and that what God fashioned he could not hate, the subject of sin is taken up.  Because of His love for us, God only rebukes offenders little by little as a way to prod us away from our sin and bring us back to himself.

 

St. Paul’s words, “If God is for us, who can be against us,” is echoed in the last sentence of the gospel that reads, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”  What are we to fear before God?  With him we have everything to gain, and nothing to lose.  Zacchaeus found this out when he climbed the sycamore tree to get a glimpse of the Lord.

 

The negativity in this passage does not come from God, it comes from those who say, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”  This is where our fear comes from.  From people who do not know God’s love as something real.  We have all been hurt by this negative voice and have probably internalized its message to some level.  But as we pray today, and understand that God did not come to condemn, but to save, we can stop judging ourselves and others in a negative way, and give ourselves permission to embody God’s love for us and all his creation.

 

A question we may want to ponder this week is, “How is God’s love lifting me up?”  and, “How might he be nudging me to a fuller life in the Spirit?”