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Reflection on this Sunday's scripture readings
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The first reading, taken from the Book of Wisdom, was written to encourage the Jews in Alexandria of the 1st century BCE to hold fast to their faith in God in the face of the great temptations of Hellenism, the Greek way of life. The book is written in the name of Solomon and is part of the collection of wisdom writings in the deuterocanonical (second canon) section of the Old Testament. The teaching in this short extract is that God is merciful to human beings because he loves them and gives them chance to repent.
God's mercy is also the teaching of today's Gospel passage, the story of Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector who welcomed Jesus into his house. Because of his acceptance of Jesus and the change he makes in his life, salvation has come to his entire household. The presence of Jesus makes possible what is humanly impossible - a wealthy man has got through the eye of a needle. This could not have happened, however, without a radical change on the part of Zacchaeus, a willingness to repent and to change his whole life.
The psalm tells us that the Lord is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in love. No matter how far away from God we feel we are, God is good to us. Let us allow ourselves to experience God's love this week and invite him into our homes, into ourselves.