Unconditional Love ~ by Ethel Cooley

Missionary Cooperative Plan

If you were curious as to where Fr. Andrew Sagayam was on Sunday, November 4, 2007 and why Fr. Dan Brady, from St. Michael, Glen Allen was at St. Elizabeth, they were participating in the Missionary Cooperative Plan. A priest is assigned to a "Host Parish" and the two priests "exchange places" once a year.

"I will praise your name forever, my King and my God." Psalm 145:1-2

Zacchaeus was disliked by his countrymen for he was one of the dreaded tax collectors. Unbeknownst to anyone, Zacchaeus, though rich because of material wealth, was a man poor in spirit, lonely and lost. When Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was visiting his city, he wanted to see Jesus.

Because Zacchaeus was a man of small stature, he climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus. When Jesus saw Zacchaeus, he told him to come down for he would be staying at his (Zacchaeus) home. Luke 19:1-10

Fr. Dan Brady, Pastor at St. Michael, in Glen Allen, exuberantly and powerfully spoke about Zacchaeus and his encounter with Jesus.

Fr. Dan's questions to the parishioners of St. Elizabeth were, "Are you lost? What happens when you are lost? We can bumble around, plow ahead or be afraid to move, when you feel as if you are lost." Jesus came for the lost! Jesus came for the sinner! Jesus shuns no one! Jesus loves us all!

Fr. Dan reminded us, that in the First Reading: Wisdom 11:22-12:2, "God loathes nothing that He created." Satan would have us believe that; and he attempts to convince us that God hates us. Not true, God loves us unconditionally. Even when we hesitate, when we think we are wrong, God still loves us.

In spite of our "bumbling about, like a bull in a china shop," God urges us on because He loves what He has made. Again, Fr. Dan urged us to carry on because God is there for us even when we don't know what to do next, or are afraid or are "hell-bent" on going in a different direction. God has no taste; He never stops loving us.

Jesus came to Zacchaeus to tell him that the kingdom comes today for him and for us when we feel a little lost and don't hear God. Even when we allow Satan to take a piece of us, know that God still has us. Let us welcome God in our hearts.

"Today salvation has come to this house; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."