In today’s Gospel we find the Lord’s mission statement: The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost. In other words, his entire life was directed towards others.Every-thing he did and everything he said was aimed at bringing us all back home to the Father’s house. And that is still his mission today.
He carries it out through his Church—that’s you and me—because each member of the Church, by virtue of our baptism, is an ambassador for Christ. We have been sent into the world to “seek out and save what was lost,” to bring the light of Christ to everyone who walks in darkness. If we’re going to succeed in our mission, we have to have the same attitude as Jesus, who didn’t care about what others thought of him. He only cared about what God the Father wanted, namely, souls.
Jesus had attracted a huge crowd in Jericho as he made his way to Jerusalem. The people lined the streets to get a glimpse of him, and as he passed under the sycamore tree, he saw Zacchaeus looking down from the branches. When Jesus decided to spend time with him at his house, the crowd was shocked. In fact, they started grumbling because the Lord was going to stay at the house of tax collector, one of the most despised people in all of Israel. But Jesus knew what his mission was, and he didn’t let gossip and criticism stop him. That day he showed mercy to a sinner and salvation came to Zacchaeus. True Christians will do the same.
The Power of Mercy - A Marriage Is Saved
The ability to love those who are sometimes difficult to love is one way that God shows his mercy. For example, I recently encountered a couple who had been married for fifteen years and were going through a serious rough patch. I would say that their marriage was in crisis. What helped them overcome their differences was an idea that the wife had.
For one month they would drop a slip of paper into the other person’s “Fault” box. The boxes were designed to let the other person know about daily irritations. The wife was very diligent in her efforts. She would write things like: You left your wet towel on the bathroom floor again; You didn’t put your dirty socks in the hamper again; You forgot to put the lid on the mayonnaise jar again. This continued until the end of the month.
After dinner, the time had come for them to open their “fault” boxes. The husband was quiet as he read about his faults. Then the wife open her box and began reading all the slips of paper one by one. They were all the same. The message on each slip simply read, I love you! The crisis was over.
When we learn to be merciful and forgiving, we’re able to “seek and to save what was lost.”
Be Free from the Slavery of Others’ Opinions
Focusing on our mission frees us from the slavery of other people’s opinions. Worrying about what others think about us is one of the biggest obstacles to spiritual growth. That does not mean we’re supposed to ignore other people, because that would make us arrogant. So how can we stay engaged in society without being slaves of social opinion and popularity contests? By focusing on our mission!
God created us to love him and our neighbor, but he also created us to be loved in return. If we strive to please Jesus in everything we do, in all our activities, relationships and projects, we will find that our effortsalready please God. And that will result in our hearts being full of the freedom that comes from knowing how much we are loved.
Today, Jesus will prove his love for us again by giving himself to us at this Mass in the Holy Eucharist. Be sure to thank him, and promise him this week that you will do your very best to make his mission statement your own.