Sunday of Zacchaeus, Tone 8; Our Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great (356)
1 Timothy 4:9-15; Hebrews 13: 17-21; Luke 19:1-10; Luke 6: 17-23
Polyeleos Feast
Read 1 Timothy 4:9-15
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
Have you ever been walking through a mall, or a market, minding your own business, when suddenly you encounter the beautiful scent of baked goods? Perhaps it was a cinnamon roll or freshly baked bread? All of a sudden there’s a grumble in your stomach as the hunger kicks in. You weren’t hungry before, but now you certainly are, and you wouldn’t have been if you hadn’t encountered that beautiful scent.
In St. Paul’s letter to Timothy, we read that he encourages his young disciple to continue desiring the Lord, that what should motivate Timothy in his striving and toiling is “hope set on the Living God.” In our gospel, Zacchaeus desired to see the Lord so badly that he climbed a tree, an embarrassing endeavour for a grown man, simply to catch a glimpse of Jesus!
What are you hungry for? This is the question we must ask ourselves as we begin this, the first Sunday of preparation for the Great and Holy Fast. Our first lesson in this pre-Lenten “warm-up session” is: desire. This hunger and desire is lived out in a very practical way with our fasting Tradition. The point of fasting before we receive the Eucharist is to place us into a state of hunger. When our bodies are reminding us that we need to eat, we remember that we are not self-sufficient. When we satiate ourselves through the Eucharist, we realize all our desires are ultimately answered in Him, the Bread who came down from Heaven.
As we limber-up for the race we are preparing to run, take some time this week to contemplate where your desires are, and make the firm commitment to desire the Lord above all else!