Reflections of a beloved son

Every year we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the United States on the fourth Thursday of November.  Families and friends gather together and enjoy one another.  It's a day of conversations, food, entertainment - a day to get away from the busyness of the world and to just be. If we really think about it, there is so much to be thankful for.  Thankful for the gift to see another day.  The gift of our family and friends.  Our blessings.  The gift of forgiveness and reconciliation.  And, yes, even thankful for the gift  of our struggles.  It is easy to see God's hands in the good things and the joys, but sometimes it is hard to see God amidst the difficulties.  However, those are the times when God is closest to us.  Jesus suffered.  He felt alone and abandoned on the Cross. Yet, when He looked up, He must have remembered His Father will never leave Him.  And, when He looked down and saw His Mother, He must have been comforted.  So, in the times of struggle and difficulty, let u

“See that you not be deceived,” Jesus told His disciples.   Our Lord warns the people of the trials and persecutions that should come upon them (Lk. 21:5-19).  Jesus tells of wars, persecutions, false prophets, earthquakes, famines, and plagues.  He even says that those who we love will betray us and hand us over.  But the Lord encourages them and asks them to not be overly worried, “. ..for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist of refute .”  In other words, we can not handle these trials and persecutions on our own.  Only by grace and through and with Our Lord Jesus will we be able to overcome them and endure them.  At the end of the Gospel passage, Jesus tells them, “ By your perseverance you will secure your lives. ”  Wow. Wars, persecutions, natural disasters, and even betrayal by my beloved ones? That does not sound hopeful.  I mean wars and persecutions and natural disasters I can bear and try to do safety precaut

The story of the encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus is, in my opinion one that gives hope and strengthens faith.  We are told that Jesus "came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town." But, He stopped when he saw a man who longed to see him so much that he climbed a tree just so that he could see Jesus.  " Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay in your house. "  Now Zacchaeus was a tax a collector, a wealthy man, someone perhaps the people did not like and who they considered a sinner.  But, Jesus chose him among all the others to stay with him.  And, Jesus among all people, decided to stay at a place through which He first only intended to pass.  Jesus stopped for Zacchaeus.  Jesus stops for sinners.  Jesus stops for you. Our Lord stopped for Zacchaeus because He knew it was important for Zacchaeus that He did.  He saw the earnestness and faith of Zacchaeus.  He knew how much Zacchaeus was suffering inside from guilt, shame, and sorrow.