Ever wondered about having a real life encounter with Jesus? You could be at work, at school, on the way to the doctor, perhaps doing shopping. And somebody told you that Jesus is passing by. Would you run over to see Him? I think I would. I might even get on that Sycamore tree like Zachaeus did to get a good look at Him. I am not good at climbing trees, and I am scared of heights. I am sure I will make a fool out of myself my clinging onto that tree, doing everything not to fall. But now I am worried, not about making a fool out of myself or falling, but what if Jesus sees me? I know what He is going to tell me. He would say: "Come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house" (Luke 19:5). You might be wondering why I am worried about Jesus inviting Himself to my house. I am worried because at some point during his stay at my house, I would have to get up to say, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over" (Luke 19:8). Now you see, that's a lot of moolah my friends!
There is a misconception among many that people who pray a lot and attend Mass and other church services regularly are really good people. Recently somebody told me that they have lost their faith mostly because of the hypocrisy of people who prays a lot - people like renewed catholics. This person further went onto explain that they used to have a lot of respect for Charismatic preachers and other members of the prayer group. Then they had the opportunity to be in close contact with one for an extended period of time. They said that it was disappointing to see a normal person who was prone to anger, impatience, and harshness. They were expecting a holy man, somebody filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, and chastity (the 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit), but realized that the person is nothing more than a regular human being. They told me that it made them realize that people who go around to preach and pray are just phony. This person went onto say that it has created a deep wound in their mind that they even begun to doubt their own faith. They said that they can't understand why God, who knows that this person was phony, listened to this person's prayers because it turned out this person's intercessory prayers were really effective. They thought that they too was living a life similar to the charismatic person, but all of their prayers to God had gone to deaf ears.
