Meditation Lk 19,1-10

Stand in God’s presence. God is present here and now, looking upon you with love.
Ask for the Grace:I will beg God our Lordthat all my intentionsand actions may be directed purelyto the praise and serviceof His Divine Majesty

Fixing a place, a picture for meditation: Jesus entered Jericho, located in the Jordan Valley, about 10 km north of the Dead Sea. There was crowds of people waiting for him. There was also Zacchaeus. Because he was short, he climbed a small, sprawling tree to see Jesus walking along this road. Jesus noticed Zacchaeus and stopped to say that he wants to visit him at home. Zacchaeus descended quickly and invited Jesus to his home. Where are you in this scene?

Ask for the fruit of meditation: the desire for encounter Jesus, that it is the source of my changing

1.     Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. In the Greek translation it is written that he was looking to see Jesus. But he could not see Jesus because of the crowd. What is the crowd hindering you from seeing Jesus? What or who is it?

2.     Zacchaeus enters the tree to see Jesus. We can assume that Zacchaeus was more guided by his curiosity than by the real desire to meet Jesus. But this desire was enough for Jesus to go to Zacchaeus’s house. First, however, he must descend from the tree. Perhaps, Zacchaeus did not have to climb on the tree, did not have to do additional ventures to meet Jesus? Perhaps it would have been enough for Zacchaeus to be where he was in his daily life, because that’s the place, where Jesus wanted to meet him – in his house. This house should be prepared to host Jesus.Where are you looking for a place to meet Jesus? What is your home that Jesus wants to come to?

3.     … they began to grumble, because Jesus accepts a person who is socially rejected. Consider your judgment, opinions about others. How do you slander others and why do you do it? How do your opinions influence others: lead them to growth or block them? How do you respond to the opinions of others? How does Jesus look at those you judge? How do you look when others judge you?

4.     Today Jesus knocks at your door. Accept him as you can. The encounter with Jesus transforms everyone as how it changes you?  

Meditation:St Ignatius encourages in The Spiritual Exercises No. 2 … Because not so much knowledge, but internal feeling and the taste of things please and saturate the soul, that is, we stay where we feel interior movement … and nervously do not try to go on.

The final conversation: Spend a little time at the end, being with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit….as you would with a good friend: sometimes talking, sometimes listening, sometimes being together in silence.Speak to God about your feelings. Remember that times when ‘nothing is happening’ can also be significant. When you’re ready, end your prayer by saying thank you or using words that are familiar,such as the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)–whichever feels right and comfortable. (The Spiritual Exercises No.54)