Daily Reflection – 11/7/19
Sacred Scripture
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”( Luke 15: 1-10)
Reflection
The reason that the shepherd rejoiced when he found his lost sheep, and the woman rejoiced when she found her lost coin, is because they regained something that was valuable to them. We are like that to God. Our souls are the most precious thing in the universe to Him. He loves us much more than we love our own family members and friends. It hurts Him when we stray from love. On the surface it may seem like everything is humming along smoothly in our life. We’ve got everything under control. But deep inside our hearts are a different matter. If we do not love first and foremost, then we have strayed from God and strayed from the essence of Christianity.
One other point worth noting about today’s gospel, is that the shepherd and the woman in the parables both called their friends and neighbors to come celebrate with them, on finding what they had lost. Love is a communal thing. Our actions affect the entire Body of Christ. When one of us gravely sins, it affects the entire church, as was the case with the priests convicted of the sexual abuse of minors. It affected the whole church. The opposite is also true though. When one of us grows in holiness, this also affects the entire church. Remember Mother Theresa? Saint Paul II? Their holiness affected the church throughout the world, but also many others outside of our church as well.
A thought for the day might be to remember this. That our actions are not neutral. We either build up one another, and the entire church in the process, or we tear others down like Paul before he came to know Christ. In the long run, these small everyday actions build up into something beautiful for the Lord Jesus, or not.
Prayer of The Day
Father above we thank you for the gift of this day. Guide us in all that we do, and glory be to you for all that we have and all that we are. Lord we pray for all those who are lost in this world and who do not know your love. May they be brought to the joy and peace that can only be found in you. We ask this all through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Daily Note
Many times we view helping others and helping to find others as an inconvenience. Thank goodness that God does not think or act this way. When we are lost, He help us along and is continuously allowing grace to flow in our lives so that we can be found. Of course, we do have to cooperate with that grace. And when those who are lost are found, we know that there will be great rejoicing in heaven!
