Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 15, 1-10
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 neighbours, 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 people 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 neighbours, 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.’
Today we see God’s mercy
1) Jesus, the good shepherd. Jesus goes out to look for the sheep and you and I as Christians must go out and listen to many sheep who are tired and weary. We cannot be a Church of snobby people who turn their noses up at others, a closed church, in which we only accept a chosen few. We have to go out and look for these weary sheep and not wait around being a ‘hairdresser’ church, a church that only caresses the sheeps it already has, combs it, styles it one way and then another, combs it again…No! There are many sheep that are dirty, tired, afflicted by sin, and we have to go out and show them the merciful love of Jesus. That is why I’m asking you with all due respect, on this morning of prayer, to remember that you are the Church and that there are many sheep out there who still need to meet a merciful Jesus. They need to be looked at with mercy and with affection, not with judgment! Because God is looking at you with an attitude of closeness and love so that you can repent and come back to Him, He never looks at you with the intention of judging you or saying, ”get out of here.” Today, we have to try to be a Church with open doors, a church that goes out and seeks its sheep. This is the first attitude that we see in the Gospel today: a shepherd that goes out to look for a lost sheep. We must go out and look for those sheep and not remain with those that are always in the pen, simply keeping them there and patting them. Remember, there are still sheep out there that have serious wounds and blood stains. And as you know, when you leave blood stains for a long time they begin to smell. There are many brothers and sisters with the smell of blood from the wounds they have.
2) Mercy. Find a way to show the presence of Jesus in others. The Lord wants to show you with his mercy that you are valuable to him, that the best gift you can have is to know you are loved by God. When you feel loved by God, you feel forgiven, and when you feel forgiven you feel fully in love with Him and in love with life. When you try to show others how to fall in that same love with Jesus, you become a missionary. This is why the missionary attitude of your life is in the meditation of mercy. May the Lord enlighten you, may you be merciful, and, above all, humble.
God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Remember Heaven is our goal!
