Daily Reflection – 12/10/19
Sacred Scripture
What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost. (Matthew 18:12-14)
Reflection
We know that Jesus is the shepherd and we are the “sheep.” At times in our lives, we also wander off or stray from the Shepherd and from the flock. When we feel lost and alone, we may not feel Jesus’ presence as we would like to. Yet Jesus is with us! Jesus never leaves us! Typically, we are the one who wander away from Him. Hopefully at some point we realize that we are lost and we decide to return home to the One who loves us unconditionally!
The shepherd will search until what he has lost is found. What was new in Jesus’ teaching was the insistence that sinners must be sought out time and time again. God does not rejoice in the loss of anyone, but desires that we be saved and restored to friendship with him. That is why the whole community of heaven rejoices when one sinner is found and restored to fellowship with God.
The true gift is that Jesus searches for us until He finds us and we allow Him to bring us home! Jesus never gives up looking for us or longing for our return Jesus, the Good Shepherd, watches over every step we take. Do you listen to his voice and heed his wise counsel? Do you follow the path he has set for you – a path that leads to life rather than death? A path that recognizes that all life is sacred. A path that calls us to cry out when the dignity of life is diminished. A path that mandates that each of us must call out those actions, those words, those actions which do not recognize that every individual, every life deserves to walk in the love and the protection of the Shepherd.
Prayer of The Day
Lord Jesus, nothing escapes your watchful gaze and care. May I always walk in the light of your truth and never stray from your loving presence. May I live your truth. May the words from my mouth and the actions from my hands serve as proof that I am one of your flock.
Daily Note
Jesus prophetically calls on all of us to accompany the least among us. Christ’s preferential option for the poor, the disabled, and the outcasts of His society must be emulated today. We must search for that single lost sheep, the lowest of the flock, for in them we shall find Christ rejoicing more than in the found flock. Walking with the oppressed and marginalized – the lost sheep – we respond to the prophetic words calling out from the desert. Isaiah told us that the Kingdom was coming, and it is through Christ and His lost sheep that these works shall build the Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven.
