Today in the book of Wisdom (11.22-12.2) we are given a glimpse of the world from God’s perspective. It really is a beautiful passage. There is so much richness in it. You could take several of these sentences and reflect on them for a whole day!

“The whole world before you, O Lord, is like a speck…and like a drop of morning dew.” (Wisdom 11.22) We are so tiny before God, who is the great Creator, and yet how vast is it to us. The world adds nothing to His greatness. By this definition we would seem so insignificant, yet we are each so significant to Him – “[He is] merciful to all” (Wisdom 11.23)

This next line is the real kicker:

“Lord you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things you have made, for you would not have made anything if you had hated it. How would anything have endured had you not willed it? Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved?” (Wisdom 11.24-25)

The world speaks of love often, but what is it really? Love is willing the good of the other. It is a choice. So for God, “how would anything have endured had [He] not willed it?” So it is by God’s love that we were brought and are held in being.

To quote Bishop Robert Barron “God doesn’t love things because they have wonderful qualities. That’s the way we tend to love. For example, if someone is attractive to us, kind to us, just to us then we love them. Rather, they have wonderful qualities because God loves them.”

To repeat: “God doesn’t love things because they have wonderful qualities. Rather, they have wonderful qualities because he loves them.”

With all of this in mind we hear the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19.1-10). A man who had a lack for nothing of this world. “He was chief tax collector and was rich”. Everyone around him was grumbling and declaring he was a sinner. Yet something called to the heart of Zacchaeus, I would dare to say he heard about this man Jesus and something in his heart was drawn to discover, or at least see, Him. He was being drawn out of himself because of the love of Jesus, the image of the living God, who loved him even though he didn’t know it yet.

Jesus sees him and says “I must stay at your house.” And Zacchaeus welcomed him. This coming in of Jesus into his house symbolizes Jesus totally moving into his life. Amidst whatever was in Zacheaus’ life Jesus’ love spoke to the depths of his heart and he repented; he was changed.

You know, I was speaking to someone the other day, talking about life and he said to me, “I have become convinced that it doesn’t matter what vocation I live in this life or what work I do, if I do not have relationship with God, if I do not live in His love then my life and my work means nothing. It is precisely because of his love for me, and out of that love, that I am able to be happy wherever I am and in whatever I am doing!”

This really is an important message for us to hear today; You are loved. I believe this is our biggest crisis today, is that when people do not know they are loved they search for meaning and purpose in things that will never bring meaning and purpose but leave them shallow and empty. There are times when we have all done this and still do this.

Our God is always there, he has been since the beginning of time, and now even more intimately he is present to us through his Son. It truly is His love for us that enables us to live fuller lives. And it is precisely because we are loved by Him first that our hearts are drawn to Him and we are drawn to change, to repentance and true happiness.

So during this Jubilee of Mercy, let us entrust ourselves totally and fully to the Lord our God, as Zacchaeus does today, welcoming him in to the “home” of our lives, thus allowing ourselves to experience the true joy of being loved by our Creator and our God.

Remember: “God doesn’t love you because you have wonderful qualities. Rather, you have wonderful qualities because God loves you.”