FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD
10 December 2024
Second Tuesday of Advent
WORD of the DAY
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.” Matthew 18: 12-24)
How shall I live this Word?
Jesus tells a very short and simple story. A shepherd has 100 sheep, loses one, leaves the 99 on the mountain and goes in search of the lost sheep. In economic terms, losing a sheep is a little thing; it would be madness to leave the 99 to look for the sheep that has been lost. God’s logic is totally different. His interest is that of love for all the sheep, so much so that He cannot do without even one that is lost. He is the pastor moved by His great love for the little ones, the poor, and the excluded. Only a very great love is capable of doing such madness. The love with which God loves us exceeds prudence and human common sense. God’s love is madness. If it were not so, we would be lost! Everyone must feel responsible if a brother or sister is lost, if we do nothing to help them find the way home. Everything that touches my brother and sister, concerns me. If they are lost, we will be asked to account for it. Let us be touched by those who, for various vicissitudes of life, are on the margins. May they meet through us, the merciful God the Father who never abandons His children but continues to offer His love.
Because you are precious in my eyes, you are worth more than the greatest of treasures. I will be with you wherever you go.
The voice of Pope Francis, Angelus 9/11/2022
God is a father and comes to seek us whenever we are lost. The shepherd is missing one sheep but has ninety-nine others; the woman is missing a coin but has nine others. The merciful father has another obedient son. Instead, in their hearts there is anxiety for what is missing. Who loves, cares for those who are missing, has nostalgia for those who are absent, looks for those who are lost, waits for those who have departed, because he wants no one to be lost.
God is like this. He is not tranquil if we turn away from Him. He is grieved; He trembles in His depths.
The Lord has the heart of a father and a mother and suffers for the absence of His beloved children. God suffers because of our distance and when we get lost, He waits for our return. Remember, God always waits for us with open arms, whatever the situation of life in which we have lost ourselves.
E-mail: srmterzo@gmail.com Website: www.sanbiagio.org info@sanbiagio.org Blog: livingscripture.wordpress.com -Comment: Sr. Gisella Serra, FMA
