Acceptance in the practice of the Church

In this work, we use as a model of encounter Jesus' reciprocal acceptance of Zacchaeus, a profound experience of encounter, an ever-new paradigm for the Church. In this passage, Jesus appears welcoming and being welcomed. An experience that culminates in the conversion of Zacchaeus. In this encounter, we highlight some expressions of the Gospel welcoming: the merciful look of Jesus, the simple and true dialogue with the tax collector, "he looked up", where the Master expresses his desire to visit him. Jesus goes to his house and brings a word of hope, "today salvation has come to this house". On the other hand, the welcome comes with Zacchaeus' disposition, "to go further ahead", "to climb a tree", "to look for the Master's figure", "to accept Jesus' self-invitation", he runs to his house to await the Lord's visit. In fact there are two movements, from Zacchaeus to Jesus and from Jesus to Zacchaeus. It is the way of welcoming. The first is certainly the one from Jesus to Zacchaeus, because we believe that the Spirit of God is already at work in people's hearts, preparing the way for the great moment of "encounter".