Today's Reflections
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
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Lk 15:3-7
3To [the Pharisees and scribes] [Jesus] addressed this parable. 4“What
man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not
leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he
finds it? 5And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy 6and,
upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and
says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7I
tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over
one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have
no need of repentance.”
Reflection:
Leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one. If
you were one of the original listeners of Jesus, you would likely not
agree that it would be wise of a shepherd to leave the ninety-nine sheep
to look for one straying sheep. And certainly you would think it an
exaggeration for the shepherd to call his friends and neighbors to
rejoice with him because he has found one lost sheep.
But
that is the way Jesus loves. He does not reckon things only according
to numbers. Each one really matters to him and is worth saving. Each
lost person found again is worth rejoicing about. Jesus is happier
receiving back sinners than condemning them. He has not come to condemn
but to save.
Thus,
we can be sure that you and I are precious to Jesus. He will not let us
go astray. If we do, he will stop at nothing to get us back. In fact,
his Sacred Heart pierced with a lance symbolizes the outpouring of his
grace for us sinners and the extent of his sacrifice to win us back for
God.
“God’s mercy is as foolish as a shepherd
who abandons ninety-nine sheep to save one”
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