Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent - Matthew 18:12-14
The Gospel reading for today is
extremely short: only three verses. Yet Jesus has a powerful message in these
verses. Today’s Gospel is the parable of the man who has 100 sheep that he is
tending. One of the sheep wanders off.
Despite the fact that the shepherd
was tending 100 sheep, he instinctively knew that one of his sheep was missing.
He was determined to find it and bring it back to the flock. As we know, the
shepherd leaves the 99 sheep and goes in search of the lost sheep.
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. Do you remember a time in your life when you were
lost? When you were distant from God? What was going on in your life at that
time? Take a moment and reflect those days or months. Did you sense Jesus
seeking you out, looking for you? What brought you back to Jesus? And what did
you learn from that experience?
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 wanders 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! If you notice, the shepherd did not reprimand the
sheep, he looked for the lost sheep until he found it. He then took it back to
the flock. The shepherd also rejoiced more about finding his lost sheep.
The gift is 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! Are you “lost” in some way at this
time in your life? Have you wandered away from Jesus? Today Jesus is searching
for you and for me. It is our decision to allow ourselves be found by Him. Will
we let Him carry us back to His flock?
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