Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 18, 12-14
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.”
God comes looking for you
1. To get lost. It’s easy to get lost in life since there are many distractions. We don’t willingly want to get lost; we always look to be with loved ones. To get lost means that we lose the focus on Jesus, and we distance ourselves from him and therefore our attention is placed somewhere else. When we lose center in our lives as well as in our relationship with God, we lose the peace He alone can give us, and we realize we’re in a place where we can’t find any answers. Think, do you feel lost today? Are you stuck in a place which you can’t find a way out of, where you can’t make decisions or make choices?
2. Go out and search. Jesus teaches us the right attitude that you and I must have. Many have lost their focus on Jesus and have gotten lost in a myriad of worries, concerns, and debts. These distractions make us lose our center which should be on Jesus. Today, Jesus goes out to look for you since His love and compassion means no one is left behind. Jesus is always at our side.
3. Joy. It’s what you feel when you refocus your life on God. You transmit peace because you’ve found your focus again. I often dream of this joyful Church, a happy community that rejoices for that person who returns to focus his life on God. Do you rejoice when others return to Jesus? Don’t allow religious zeal to take hold of you, for it’s one thing to know that your calling is to spread the Gospel passionately, and another thing to be a fanatical apostle.
Always remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you, be with you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
