3rd Sunday after Pentecost 9.6.13 Lost sheep
In some things 99 out of 100 would be a good result, for instance in a test.
But not in others. If we had six children and one was missing we would not say, well, five out of six is not bad. I won’t worry about the one that is missing! No, we go after the lost one. And so we should go after the spiritually lost.
We, meanwhile, tend to love only those who are lovable. We find it very hard to love the unlovable. We insist that they must deserve our love, have something good about them that is worth loving. We are quick to write people off.
This is not God’s way. He loves far more deeply and distinctively. He knows every detail of every person’s life, whereas we are inclined to judge people on just one offence or one point of difference.
We love those who ‘deserve’ our love but God loves the undeserving too. We can love a bad person after he becomes good. God, however, loves him before he changes. (Jesus died for us while we were still sinners (Rm 5,8). He makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Mt5,45)).
The Pharisees could not work out why Jesus would eat with sinners. He was trying to change the sinners from bad to good. Like a doctor who visits the sick to make them healthy.
Meanwhile we mix only with those we like and approve of!
It is clear we have a lot to learn from Our Lord and Teacher. We have to un-learn the ways of the world and take on the mind of the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd goes out in search of the lost, however unlovable or objectionable they might be at this moment.
Why does He love them so much? He can see the goodness that was planted in them.
All babies start equal insofar as they have not done anything wrong (yet). If we walked into a room full of babies we would not be able to say, Ah, this one will be a murderer, this one a saint... There is an equality at the start. All are created by God; all are meant for heaven.
It is easier to love people if we look at them in this way. We don't look at their faults but at the original idea when God created them.
The Pharisees were the ones who needed to explain. Why did they not reach out to sinners?
So do we need to explain if we begrudge mercy to one who is presently bad. How could I possibly want someone to stay in his sins?
In everyday life we would help someone in need. If someone is trapped in the rubble after a building collapse a whole host of people try to pull him out.
But would a whole host of people pray night and day for one soul to convert? The need is not so evident.
If we come from God’s point of view it is easier to see; it is a straightforward rescue mission. If we come from our point of view it is hard because our view is so distorted. We want the bad people to suffer for their sins and crimes. We don't want them to have mercy (or at least we are tempted not to want it).
We need healing too, if we think like this. The Good Shepherd will come to us and correct our false thinking.
In fact the more lost someone is the more love he needs. If you are a parent and one child is sick you spend more time chasing after that child than the healthy ones. Just so in the spiritual world.
We realize how much saving we need when it comes to cleansing out the wrong attitudes. We find that Catholicism is a lot more than just going to Mass 52 times a year! There is a lot we need to re-adjust if we are to take on the mind of Christ.
May He find all the lost, including us!
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