Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/430

 Thou hast  given  him  length  of  days  for  ever  and  ever." (Ps.  xx.  5.)  The  life  of  the  body  is  known  to  exist  by its  motion  and  operation;  in  the  same  manner  the  life  of the  soul  is  discovered  by  its  works,  that  is,  by  its  imitation of  Christ.  "  He  that  saith  he  abideth  in  Him  ought, himself also,  to  walk,  even  as  He  walked."    (1  John  ii.  6.)

I. "  Behold  there  was  a  man,  by  name  Zacheus,  and this  was  the  chief  of  the  publicans,  and  he  was  rich,  and he  sought  to  see  Jesus." (Luke xix.  2.)  The  desire  of finding  Jesus  is  rare  in  the  minds  of  the  rich,  but  this desire was  the  beginning  of  Zacheus's  conversion. "Wisdom is glorious,  and  never  fadeth  away,  and  is  easily seen  by  them  that  love  her,  and  is  found  by  them  that seek  her;  the  beginning  of  her  is  the  most  true  desire  of discipline." (Wis. vi.  13.)  Examine  whether  you  feel this desire  of  perfection,  and  if  you  do  not,  take  care  to excite  it.

II. "And he  could  not  see  Jesus  for  the  crowd,"  be therefore  ascended  a  tree. In his  search  after  salvation, though a  man  of  authority,  he  disregarded  the  ridicule and scoffs  of  the  rabble. Perhaps you  are  not  able  to see  Christ  and  understand  His  divine  mysteries,  in  consequence of  the  crowd  of  worldly  thoughts  which  fill your mind. Retire therefore,  from  them  by  prayer  and mortification, and  like  Zacheus  ascend  the  tree. This tree is  the  cross,  which  is  "a  folly  to  the  Gentiles,"  for, as St.  Gregory  writes,  "  those,  who  through  humility choose  that  which  is  folly  to  the  world,  arise  to  a  feeling contemplation  of  the  wisdom  of  God  Himself."