JUNE 7, 2013 : SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus 
Lectionary: 172

Reading 1EZ 34:11-16

Thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
As a shepherd tends his flock
when he finds himself among his scattered sheep,
so will I tend my sheep.
I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered
when it was cloudy and dark.
I will lead them out from among the peoples
and gather them from the foreign lands;
I will bring them back to their own country
and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel
in the land's ravines and all its inhabited places.
In good pastures will I pasture them,
and on the mountain heights of Israel
shall be their grazing ground.
There they shall lie down on good grazing ground,
and in rich pastures shall they be pastured
on the mountains of Israel.
I myself will pasture my sheep;
I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
The lost I will seek out,
the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal,
but the sleek and the strong I will destroy,
shepherding them rightly.

Responsorial PsalmPS 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6.

R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows. 
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Reading 2ROM 5:5B-11

Brothers and sisters:

The love of God has been poured out into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For Christ, while we were still helpless,

died at the appointed time for the ungodly.

Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,

though perhaps for a good person

one might even find courage to die.

But God proves his love for us

in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood,

will we be saved through him from the wrath.

Indeed, if, while we were enemies,

we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,

how much more, once reconciled,

will we be saved by his life.

Not only that,

but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have now received reconciliation.

GospelLK 15:3-7

Jesus addressed this parable to the Pharisees and scribes:
"What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, 
'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance."

www.usccb.org

Meditation: “Rejoice, I have found my sheep which was lost”

Jesus’ heart of love and compassion is most clearly revealed in the way he sought out sinners and outcasts of society. No one was excluded from his gracious presence unless they chose to stay away out of jealousy or mistrust.  The scribes and Pharisees took great offense at Jesus because he freely associated with sinners and treated them graciously. The Pharisees had strict regulations about how they were to keep away from sinners, lest they incur defilement. They were not to entrust money to them or have any business dealings with them, nor trust them with a secret, nor entrust orphans to their care, nor accompany them on a journey, nor give their daughter in marriage to any of their sons, nor invite them as guests or be their guests. They were shocked with the way in which Jesus freely received sinners and ate with them. Sinners, nonetheless, were drawn to Jesus to hear him speak about the mercy of God.  Jesus characteristically answered the Pharisees' charge with a parable or lesson drawn from everyday life.
What does Jesus' story about a lost sheep tell us about God and his kingdom? Shepherds normally counted their sheep at the end of the day to make sure all were accounted for. Since sheep by their very nature are very social, an isolated sheep can quickly become bewildered and even neurotic. The shepherd's grief and anxiety is turned to joy when he finds the lost sheep and restores it to the fold. The shepherd searches until what he has lost is found. His persistence pays off.  He instinctively shares his joy with the whole community. The poor are particularly good at sharing in one another's sorrows and joys. What was new in Jesus' teaching was the insistence that sinners must be sought out and not merely mourned for. God does not rejoice in the loss of anyone, but desires that all be saved and restored to fellowship with him. That is why the whole community of heaven rejoices when one sinner is found and restored to fellowship with God. Seekers of the lost are much needed today. Do you persistently pray and seek after those you know who have lost their way to God?
"Lord Jesus, let your light dispel the darkness that what is lost may be found and restored. Let your light shine through me that others may see your truth and love and find hope and peace in you. May I never doubt your love nor take for granted the mercy you have shown to me. Fill me with your transforming love that I may be merciful as you are merciful."

www.dailyscripture.net

A Shepherd’s Loving Heart

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Father Timothy Mulcahey, LC Luke 15:3-7 Jesus addressed this parable to the scribes and Pharisees: "What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ´Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.´ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.” Introductory Prayer:Dear Lord Jesus, you wanted to love me with a human love. You did not spare any sacrifice to love me. Even when I rejected you, you sought me out to bring me back to your fold. Give me a heart as loving as yours. Let me burn with zeal and charity for you, your souls, and your interests. Help me to understand that my life was given to me to love and spend itself loving souls and you. Petition:Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart more like yours! 1. The Heart of a True Shepherd: The heart of Jesus pours out its love on us. He came into this world to love us more than anyone else ever could. He follows us long distances to bring us back to him. Christ compares himself to a shepherd, a lowly laborer who makes many sacrifices and puts himself at the service of the flock. A shepherd can give more importance to the life of his flock than to his own life. Christ the Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. No flock, no matter how large or valuable, could ever be worth more than a shepherd. Yet the Father wants the sheep to be safe, to thrive, to grow and be strong. Christ dies in order to give us life. There is nothing that makes the shepherd happier than to give life to the sheep. 2. He Pitched His Tent Among Us: We celebrate our Shepherd and his love for us. He has loved us with an everlasting love that passes through a divine heart but also through a human heart like ours. Christ is close to us as a shepherd. He did not remain aloof and distant but wanted to come down to our “desert” to rescue us when we were lost. He did not insist on living in luxury but pitched his tent among the flock, content to live like one of us. The Feast of the Sacred Heart celebrates that proximity to us through a divine love made human. He is true man as well as true God. He has made himself our brother. 3. A Devotion of Love: Christ wants to set each of us on his shoulders to carry us back to the Father. He does not force this on us but follows us until we are ready to surrender to him. Our devotion to the Sacred Heart is a devotion of love. We see a heart that has so loved the world while receiving so little love in return, and we desire to give ourselves to him more and more. We are saddened by the cold and heartless response that he receives in return for his sacrificial love – saddest of all, the weak half-hearted love from many of those who have been called to consecrate themselves lovingly to him. Christ invites us to help him bring in the lost sheep. We can call to them and let them know that he is out searching for them. Above all we can console him by giving our love to him. Conversation with Christ: Lord, you let your heart be pierced for me on the cross as a sign of the plenitude of your unconditional love. Help me to not allow that sacrifice to go in vain. Inspire a deep and burning love in my soul that will not allow any infidelity or sin to cheapen my love for you. Allow me to accompany you in your mission to bring back the lost sheep. Make me an ambassador of your grace and mercy. May others come to know your love through that same love reflected in me. Resolution:I will search for a lost sheep and encourage it to come back to Christ. I will be like Christ and not lose patience but charitably help that soul find its way back to the fold.

www.regnumchristi.org

FRIDAY, JUNE 7
LUKE 15:3-7

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS
(Ezekiel 34:11-16; Psalm 23; Romans 5:5b-11)
KEY VERSE: "But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again" (v 32).
READING: The religious leaders complained that Jesus welcomed sinners and dined with them. It was to this self righteous group that Jesus addressed three "mercy" parables to describe God's infinite love and forgiveness. In each story, Jesus portrayed something of value that was lost: a sheep, a coin and a son, and of the great joy when they were found. In the first story, Jesus portrayed God as a shepherd who searched for his lost sheep. Ezekiel said of God, "I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed" (Ez 34:16). God is always ready to pour out love and mercy upon anyone ready to receive it. Only those who were spiritually poor and recognized their own sinfulness were able to acknowledge their need for salvation. 
REFLECTING: Am I a sign of Christ's love to others?
PRAYING: Sacred Heart of Jesus, help me to love you more and more.

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus goes back at least to the 11th century, but through the 16th century it remained a private devotion, often tied to devotion to the Five Wounds of Christ. The first feast of the Sacred Heart was celebrated in 1670, in Rennes, France. But it took the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) for the devotion to become universal. In all of these visions, the Sacred Heart of Jesus played a central role. Christ asked St. Margaret Mary to request that the Feast of the Sacred Heart be celebrated in reparation for the ingratitude of humanity for the sacrifice that he had made for them. Almost 100 years later, in 1856, Pope Pius IX extended the feast to the universal Church. It is celebrated on the day requested by our Lord�the Friday after the octave (or eighth day) of Corpus Christi, or 19 days after Pentecost Sunday.

www.daily-word-of-life.com

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

'The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.'
Today's parable shows God’s great love for us with the images of stray sheep and a divine shepherd. Each and every one of us matters to God, especially the lost, the injured and the weak. God does not promise that we can avoid suffering, but promises to be with us in the middle of our suffering.

As people of God we know that no one is beyond the reach of grace and redemption, no matter how deep and dark the valleys may seem to be at times. How can I show God's love to others who feel that they are lost and alone? Do I share what I have with those who need food, shelter and rest? Do I have the courage to walk alongside others in their suffering?

www.churchresources.info

June 7
Servant of God Joseph Perez
(1890-1928)

"The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church," said Tertullian in the third century. Joseph Perez carried on that tradition.

Joseph was born in Coroneo, Mexico, and joined the Franciscans when he was 17. Because of Mexico’s civil unrest at that time (the forces of Pancho Villa had crossed into New Mexico on a raid the previous year), he was forced to take his philosophy and theology studies in California.
After ordination at Mission Santa Barbara, he returned to Mexico and served at Jerecuaro from 1922 on. The persecution under the presidency of Plutarco Calles (1924-28) forced Joseph to wear various disguises as he traveled around to visit the Catholics. In 1927 Church property was nationalized, Catholic schools were closed, and foreign priests and nuns were deported.
One day Joseph and several others were captured while returning from a secretly held Mass. Father Perez was stabbed to death by soldiers a few miles from Celaya on June 2, 1928.
When Joseph’s body was later brought in procession to Salvatierra, it was buried there amid cries of "Viva Cristo Rey!" (Long live Christ the King!).

Comment:

The Catholic Church in Mexico today is much freer than it was in the 1920’s. Catholicism is very much alive in Mexico today, nurtured in part by martyrs like Father Perez.

Quote:

Father Joseph’s memorial card includes these words: "May almighty God grant that our prayer, which is supported by the bloody sacrifice of this martyr, may graciously appear in his sight and bring salvation to us and redemption to our country" (Marion A. Habig, O.F.M., The Franciscan Book of Saints, p. 412).

www.americancatholic.org

LECTIO: SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Lectio: 

 Friday, June 7, 2013 

The lost and found sheep
The true conversion: from justice to mercy
Luke 15, 3-7

Opening prayer

My Father, I come before You today with a sorrowful heart, because I know I am among the number of those, who even though they are sinners, believe to be just. I feel within myself the weight of my heart made of rock and of iron. Today, I would also like to be among those who get close to Your Son to listen to Him; I would like to stop doing like the Pharisees and the Scribes who, before your love, murmur and criticise.
I beg You, my Lord, touch my heart with your words, with your presence and win it over with only a look, with only one of your caresses. Take me to your table, so that I can also eat your good bread, or even just the crumbs, Your Son Jesus, grain of wheat, who became spike and nourishment of salvation. Do not leave me outside, but allow me to enter to the table of your mercy. Amen.

1. READ

a) Text:

3 So he told them this parable: 4 'Which one of you with a hundred sheep, if he lost one, would fail to leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the missing one till he found it? 5 And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders 6 and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, I have found my sheep that was lost." 7 In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine upright people who have no need of repentance.

b) The context:

This brief passage constitutes only the beginning of the great chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke, a very central chapter, almost in the heart of the Gospel and of its message. Here, in fact, are enclosed the three accounts of the mercy, like one only parable: the sheep, the coin and the son, are an image of one only reality, they bear in themselves all the richness and the preciousness of man before God’s eyes, the Father. Here is the last significance of the Incarnation and of the life of Christ in the world: the salvation of all, Jews and Greeks, slaves or free men, men or women. Nobody should remain outside the banquet of mercy.

In fact, precisely the previous chapter to this one narrates the invitation to the table of the king and also gives to us this call: “Come, everything is ready!”. God is waiting for us, next to the place that He has prepared for us, so that we can be His guests, so as to make us also participate in His joy.

c) The Structure:

Verse 3 is the introduction and connects us with the previous situation, that is the one in which Luke describes the joyful movement, of love and conversion, of the sinners and publicans, who without fear, continue to get close to Jesus to listen to Him. It is here that the murmuring, the anger, the criticism are triggered and therefore, the refusal of the Pharisees and the Scribes, convinced of having in themselves justice and truth.

Therefore, the parable that follows, which is structured in three accounts, wants to be the response of Jesus to this murmuring; in last instance, the response to our criticism, to our grumbling and mumbling against Him and His inexplicable love.

Verse 4 begins with a rhetoric question, which already presupposes a negative response: nobody would act as the Good Shepherd, as Christ. And it is precisely there, in his behaviour, in his love for us, for all, where his truth is. Verses 5 and 6 tell the story, they describe the actions, the sentiments of the shepherd: his search, his fatigue, his joy which become tenderness and care for the sheep that has been found, the sharing of this joy with the friends. At the end, with verse 7, Luke wants to depict the face of God, personified in Heaven: He anxiously waits for the return of all his children. He is a God, a Father who loves sinners, who recognize themselves in need of his mercy, of his embrace and he cannot be pleased with those who believe themselves to be just and remain far away from Him.

2. MEDITATE ON THE WORD

a) A moment of prayerful silence:

Now, as the Publican and the sinners, I also desire to get close to the Lord Jesus to listen to his words, to pay attention with heart and mind, to everything which He wants to tell me. Then, I open myself, I allow myself to be reached by his voice, by his look on me, which reaches me to the depth of my being…

b) Some ways to deepening:

“Which one among you?”

It is necessary to begin by this strong question of Jesus, addressed to his interlocutors at that moment, but also addressed to us today. We are seriously placed before ourselves, to understand who we are, how we are in the depth of ourselves. “Who is a true man among us?”, says Jesus. Like a few verses further down he will say: “Which woman?”. It is more or less the same question which the Psalmist asked, when he said: “What is man?” (8, 5) and which Job repeated, speaking with God: “What is this man?” (7, 17).

Therefore, here we, in this brief account of Jesus, in this parable of the mercy, we find the truth: we succeed to understand who is truly a man among us. But in order to do this, it is necessary that we encounter God, hidden in these verses, because we must confront ourselves with Him, we must mirror ourselves in Him and find ourselves. The behaviour of the shepherd with his sheep tells us what we should do, how we should be and reveals to us how we are in reality, it shows us our nakedness and our wounds, our profound sickness. We, who believe that we are gods, we are not even men.

Let us see why…

"Ninety nine – one”

Behold that God’s light immediately places us in confrontation with a very strong reality, shocking for us. In this Gospel we find, a flock, one as many others, quite numerous, perhaps belonging to a wealthy man: one hundred sheep. A perfect, symbolical, divine number. The fullness of the children of God, all of us, each one, one by one, nobody can remain excluded. But in this reality, an unthinkable thing happens: a great, unbalanced maximum division is created. On the one hand 99 sheep and on the other only one. There is no acceptable proportion here. And just the same these are God’s ways. Immediately we think and ask ourselves, to which group do we belong. Are we among the 99? Or are we that only one, that is alone, so great, so important so as to be the counterpart of the rest of the flock?

Let us look attentively to the text. The only sheep, the one alone, immediately emerges from the group because it is lost, gets lost, in one word, lives a negative experience, a dangerous one, perhaps even a mortal one. But, surprisingly, the shepherd does not allow it to leave like that, he does not wash his hands; rather he abandons the others, who had remained with him and goes to look for it. Is such a thing possible? Can an abandonment of this dimension be justified? Here we began to enter into crisis, because surely it came spontaneous to us to classify ourselves as being among the 99, who remained faithful. And instead, the shepherd goes and runs in search of the bad one, the one which did not merit anything, but only the solicitude and the abandonment which it sought for itself.

And then what happens? The shepherd does not give up immediately, he does not even think of returning or going back, he does not seem to be concerned about his other sheep, the 99. The text says that he “goes “on” after the lost one, until he finds it”. The preposition is most interesting “on”; it seems almost a picture of the shepherd, who bends down with the heart, with the thought, with the body on that only sheep. He searches the land, seeks for the prints, which he most surely knows and which he has engraved on his hands (Is 49, 16); he questions the silence, to hear if there is still an echo of its bleating at a distance. He calls it by name, he repeats the conventional sign, the one with which each day he has welcomed and accompanied it. And finally, he finds it. Yes, it could not be otherwise. But there is no punishment, no violence, no harshness. Only an infinite love and an overflowing joy. Luke says: “He places it on his shoulders very happily…”. And he rejoices, celebrates at home, with his friends and neighbours. The text does not even say if the shepherd returned to the desert to take back the other 99 sheep.

Before all this, it is clear, very clear, that we should be that only one, that sheep which was alone, loved so much, preferred in that way. We should recognize that if we are lost, that we have sinned, that without the shepherd we are nothing. This is the great passage that the word of the Gospel calls us to fulfil, today: to free ourselves from the weight of our presumed justice, to remove or set aside the yoke of our self-sufficiency and also that we place ourselves on the side of sinners, of the impure, of robbers.

Behold why Jesus begins by asking us: “Which man among you?”

“In the desert”

This is the place of the just, of those who believe that they are right, without sin, without a stain. They have not as yet entered into the Promised Land, they are outside, far away, excluded from the joy, from the mercy. Like those who have not accepted the invitation to the banquet of the king and who withdrew, some with one excuse, others with another.

In the desert and not in the house, just like the only one. Not at the table of the shepherd, where there is good and substantial bread, where there is the wine which rejoices the heart. The table prepared by the Lord: His Body and His Blood. Where the Shepherd becomes Himself the sheep, the immolated Lamb, nourishment of life.

He who does not love his brother, who does not open his heart to mercy, like the Shepherd of the flock does, cannot enter into the house, but remains outside. The desert is his inheritance, his dwelling place. And in the desert there is no food, no water, no pasture, neither enclosure for the sheep.

Jesus eats together with sinners, with the publicans, with the prostitutes, with the least, the excluded and prepares the table, his banquet with rich dishes and excellent wine, with tasty food (Is 25, 6). He also invites us to this table.

c) Interesting Parallel Passages:

2 Samuel 12, 1-4:
In the same town were two men, one rich, the other poor. The rich man had flocks and herds in great abundance; the poor man had nothing but a ewe lamb, only a single little one which he had bought. He fostered it and it grew up with him and his children, eating his bread, drinking from his cup, sleeping in his arms; it was like a daughter to him…..

Matthew 9, 10-13:
Now while he was at table in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, 'Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?' 12 When he heard this he replied, 'It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. 13 Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice. And indeed I came to call not the upright, but sinners.'

Luke 19, 1-10: 
Zacchaeus

Luke 7, 39:
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman is and what sort of person it is who is touching him and what a bad name she has.'

Luke 5, 27-32:
When he went out after this, he noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting at the tax office, and said to him, 'Follow me.' And leaving everything Levi got up and followed him. In his honour Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at table was a large gathering of tax collectors and others. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples and said, 'Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?' Jesus said to them in reply, 'It is not those that are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have come to call not the upright but sinners to repentance.'

Matthew 21, 31-32:
Jesus said to them, 'In truth I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you, showing the way of uprightness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.

d) Brief comments of the spiritual tradition of Carmel:

S. Therese of the Child Jesus:
Speaking of Father Giacinto Loyson, who had left the Carmelite Order and then abandoned the Church, Theresa writes to Celine as follows: “It is certain that Jesus desires much more than we do to lead back this poor lost sheep to the flock…” (L 129).
“Jesus deprives his sheep from his sensible presence, in order to give his consolation to sinners…” (L 142).

Speaking about Pranzini, of whom she had read his conversion at the supreme moment, just before his execution, when taking the crucifix, he kissed the holy wounds, she writes: “Then his soul went to receive the merciful sentence of the One who declares that in Heaven there will be greater joy for one sinner alone who does penance than for 99 just ones who do not need to do penance…” (MA 46 r).

Blessed Elizabeth:
“The priest in the confessional is the minister of this God who is so good, who leaves his 99 faithful sheep to run and look for the one alone which got lost…” Diary, 13.03.1899).

Saint John of the Cross:
“His desire was so great that the Spouse would liberate and redeem his spouse from the hands of sensuality and of the devil, that having accomplished this, he rejoices like the good Shepherd who, after having gone around very much, he finds the lost sheep and with great joy places it on his shoulders” (CB XXI, Annotation)

3. THE WORD AND LIFE

Some questions:

● “… having lost only one of them…” The Gospel immediately calls our attention on the strong and painful reality of getting lost, of the loss. That one sheep of the flock stranded away from the road, separated from the others. It is not a question only of an event, something that happened, but rather it is a characteristic of the sheep; in fact, in verse 6 it is called ‘the lost one’, almost as if this was its true name.

Here is the starting point, the truth. Because it is speaking about us. We are the dispersed sons, the lost ones, the erring ones; that is, the sinners, the publicans. It is useless to continue to believe that we are just, to consider ourselves better than others, worthy of the Kingdom, of God’s presence, almost with the right to grumble, to murmur against Jesus who, instead, pays attention to those who make a mistake. I should ask myself, before this Gospel, if I am ready to fulfil or go through this profound course of conversion, of a very strong interior revision. I must decide myself on which side I want to be: if to allow myself to be carried on the shoulders of the shepherd or to remain at a distance, that is alone, with my own justice. But if I do not know how to use mercy, if I do not know how to accept, to forgive, to esteem, how can I expect all this for myself?

● “…the 99 in the desert…” I should open the eyes on this reality: the desert. Where do I believe that I am? Where do I live? Where do I walk? Which are my pastures? Do I believe that I am secure, that I dwell in the house of the Lord, among his faithful sons, but perhaps it is truly like that. The Psalm says: “In grassy meadow, the Lord lets me lie”. But do I feel that I am in this rest? Then, why am I so anxious, restless, unsatisfied, always searching something more, better, greater? I look at my life: is it not a bit of a desert? Where there is no love and compassion, where I remain closed up to my brothers and sisters and I do not know how to accept them as they are, with their limitations, with the errors that they commit, in the sufferings, that perhaps they inflict on me, there the desert begins, there I am less and there I feel hungry and thirsty. This is the moment to allow my heart to be changed: to recognize myself as miserable in order to become merciful.

● “… he goes after the lost sheep until he finds it…” We have seen that the text describes very delicately the action of the shepherd: he leaves behind all the sheep and goes to look for the only one which is lost. The verb may seem a bit strange, but it is very effective. Like Hosea says concerning God, that He speaks to His People whom He loves, like to a spouse: “There I will speak to her heart” (2, 16). It is a movement, it is being carried by love; a patient bending down, tenacious, which does not give up, but which always insists. In fact, the true love is never diminished. The Lord acts in this way towards each one of his sons. Also toward me. If I look back, if I rethink about my own history , I become aware of how much love, how much patience, how much pain, He has also experienced for me, to find me, to give me back that which I wasted and lost. He has never abandoned me. I recognize this, it is truly like that.

But, at this point, what do I do, with such gratuitous love, such great love, overflowing love? If I keep it closed up in my heart, it gets lost. It cannot be kept until the following day, like the manna; otherwise it gets worms, it becomes rotten. Today, I have to hand it over, distribute it, diffuse it. Beware, if I do not love. And I try to think about my attitude toward my brothers and sisters, those whom I meet every day, with whom I share my life. How do I behave before them? At least, am I similar, in some way to the beautiful shepherd, to the good shepherd, who goes out to seek, who gets close to, who bends down with tenderness, attention, friendship, or even with love? Or am I superficial, truly I am not concerned about anybody, I leave each one to make his own choice, to live his own sorrows, without being ready, in any way, to share with him, to bear them together? What kind of a brother or sister am I? What father or mother am I?

● “Rejoice with me!”. This passage ends with a feast, which then becomes a true and proper banquet, according to the description which Luke gives at the end of the parable. A king’s meal, a solemn feast, with the best dishes, held apart, to fatten the animal, for the occasion, with the most beautiful dresses, with shoes on the feet and the ring on the finger. A joy which always becomes greater, which is contagious, a joy together. This is the invitation which the Father, the King, addresses to us every day, every morning; He desires that we also participate in his joy because of the return of his sons, our brothers. Does this upset me, get me angry? Would I rather want to remain peacefully, perhaps with a threatening face of one who wants to settle the accounts with the errors, with the loss of one or the other? Is my heart open, is it ready for this joy of God? Or do I prefer to remain outside, perhaps to recriminate or reproach what seems to me that is not given, that is, the part of the patrimony which corresponds to me, the special prize or reward to celebrate with whomever I wish? But I understand well that if I do not enter now to God’s banquet, where the poor have been invited, the limping, the cripple, the blind, those whom nobody wants; if I do not participate in the common joy of mercy, I will remain outside forever, sad, closed up in myself, in darkness and weeping, as the Gospel says.

4. THE WORD BECOMES PRAYER

a) Psalm 102, 1-4, 8-13

The Lord is good and great in His love.

Bless Yahweh, my soul,
from the depths of my being,
his holy name;
bless Yahweh, my soul,
never forget all his acts of kindness.
He forgives all your offences,
cures all your diseases,
he redeems your life from the abyss,
crowns you with faithful love and tenderness;

Yahweh is tenderness and pity,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love;
his indignation does not last for ever,
nor his resentment remain for all time;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve,
nor repay us as befits our offences.

As the height of heaven above earth,
so strong is his faithful love for those who fear him.
As the distance of east from west,
so far from us does he put our faults.
As tenderly as a father treats his children,
so Yahweh treats those who fear him;

b) Final Prayer

Good and merciful Father, praise to you for your love which you have revealed to us in Christ, Your Son! You, merciful, call all to become mercy. Help me to recognize that every day I need your pardon, your compassion, that I need the love and understanding of my brothers and sisters. May your Word change my heart and make me capable to follow Jesus, to go out every day, together with Him to look for my brothers in love. Amen.

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