There are some really beautiful, powerful words and images offered us in this morning’s readings: how God sees the vast, immense universe around us, and all that exists in it.

Images of God’s compassionate and tender care!

Should we be in awe? I would think so.                                                                    

“In your sight, Lord, the whole world is like a grain of dust that tips the scales, like a drop of morning dew falling on the ground . . .”

So small and insignificant, and yet,  

”You are merciful to all; you love all that exists, holding nothing of what you have made in abhorrence, for had you hated anything, you would not have formed it. You spare all things because all things are yours, Lord, lover of life, you whose imperishable spirit is in all.  

You are merciful to all, and overlook men’s sins so that they can repent.”

Those words are full of hope and reassurance for all of us. No one is excluded.

Today’s Gospel story of Jesus meeting Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector, repeats the message of the first reading but in a beautiful heart to heart, human encounter.
A writer has coined the title of a book: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Zacchaeus knows that. It’s been his experience. He is too small to glimpse Jesus through the crowd; and besides, the people would give him no encouragement because he was a wealthy tax collector. So he climbs a sycamore tree.

The rest is history!

How do we fit in here? What’s our story?
How respectful am I of the deep yearnings of the heart: my own heart’s desire to know Jesus as my Lord and Saviour?

What extra efforts, like Zacchaeus, do I make to get to know Jesus, to recognise His personal invitation?

The heart is a lonely hunter! There are so many ways and so many circumstances that cross our path where Jesus passes, or where Jesus is waiting, like the Samaritan woman who meets him at the well!

So many!

But it all starts in the heart, in the heart’s desire to really come home to its own depths! It is the discerning heart that recognises those moments.

Let’s not underestimate our own heart’s desire to know those redemptive moments narrated in the gospel stories.

“You spare all things because all things are yours, Lord, lover of life, you whose imperishable spirit is in all.” 

The Gospel story of the meeting of Jesus and Zacchaeus is a gem!

Let’s not underestimate the possibility of each of us experiencing something similar! It’s all in the heart’s desire! The Lord takes care of the rest.