God Rejoices When He Finds Us

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟐𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐉𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐒

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐄𝐳𝐞 𝟑𝟒:𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟔

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟐𝟑:𝟏-𝟔 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝; 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭.”

𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟓:𝟓-𝟏𝟏

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐤 𝟏𝟓:𝟑-𝟕

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔..” (𝒗.7) 

         Was there a point in your life when you were still a child that you got lost in a park or a mall perhaps? And when you were found how did your parents react? I’m sure they were filled with pure joy although there are some instances today when I see parents scolding their children who wandered and got lost.

         Or were there times when you lost something very valuable to you and you sometimes spent days looking for it. What was your reaction when you found it? For sure you must have jumped at the sheer happiness of having found something you treasured so much.

         The parable presented in today’s Gospel passage in 𝑳𝒌 15:3-7 can be summed up in two words – compassion and rejoicing – and to some extent there appears to be more emphasis on the rejoicing that transpired when the lost sheep was found.

         What Jesus was trying to present in this parable was the contrasting character of God and that of the Pharisee and teachers of the law. We have heard this narrative and the story about the lost coin many times in the past and I’m sure that many of you may have already interpreted these parables in many different ways but ending up with the same conclusion – that God is a merciful God who will stop at nothing to search and bring back a sinner to the kingdom of heaven.

         The parable of the lost sheep is not new because this is an actual life situation that Jesus used to deliver a spiritual message to his audience in this Gospel passage which was a commingling of the ultra-religious Pharisees and tax collectors and sinners.

         Imagine the tense atmosphere prevailing at the time since these two groups, if given a choice, will not even dare stand side-by-side on the same spot. This was a big no-no. The Pharisees cannot risk being stained or become unclean by mingling with tax-collectors and sinners.

        But they had no choice. They were all there, Pharisees, tax collectors and sinners, because they all want to listen to Jesus. But the Pharisees will not let this situation pass unnoticed and they complained and reminded Jesus of the sanctions on Jews especially for teachers who associate themselves with tax collectors and sinners.

         Though Jesus could have rebuked the Pharisees as he had done in the past, he instead narrated this parable that the Jews are familiar with. He began with the parable related to a shepherd who has a herd of about 100 sheep and finding one to be missing left the ninety-nine and thoroughly searched for the lost sheep until he found it, brought it home and called his neighbors and they rejoiced because they found the lost sheep.

         This situation reminds us that at some point in time we were like the shepherd who lost one sheep. Don’t we also rejoice when we find something of value that we lost? Isn’t that our first reaction when we find what we lost was to tell our relatives and friends? I believe this is how God feels when he finds a sinner who repents and humbly submits himself to God anew.

         Jesus told his listeners that “𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.” (𝒗.10) What this parable symbolized was the persistence of the shepherd who diligently searched until he found what they were looking for.

         Our God acts in the same way. God will keep searching and persist until we, aided by his Grace, are confronted with the truth that God did not create us to wallow in sin and mediocrity. We were created in God’s image and likeness and were given the authority to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground (𝑮𝒆𝒏 1:28). This is who we really are. We may have lost our way, but God will never abandon us who have been predestined according to his plan (𝑬𝒑𝒉 1:11).

         In the same vein, we must try to draw a parallelism between the content of this parable with the way we move in the Church and or Community. Now is the time for us to leave the 99 behind, albeit temporarily so that we can go out and search for our brothers and sisters whom we have not seen for quite some time. It is time for us to details out of our comfort zones to look for the lost sheep.

         Aren’t we alarmed when our parishioners and members have stopped attending the Eucharistic celebration and or Prayer Meeting? Are they sick? Did they move to another place? Did someone offend them, which was why they distance themselves from the Church? We will never know for sure until we search for them.

         A shepherd is responsible for each of the sheep, and if one is lost or killed, he must make up for it himself. Sheep are lost because of their own stupidity. Most of the time if not always, the sheep wander away and fail to see the danger they are in. I am sure this was the same situation we were in before we were found and brought to the renewal movement.

         I too was like a sheep who wandered away despite my Catholic upbringing. The difficulties of my childhood motivated me but in a wrong way and I used every opportunity that was available to extricate myself from the dark valleys I was in. It was at this point that God found me and patiently guided me towards the path of spiritual awakening.

         God is a God of mercy and compassion, and he will not stop until all who are lost are found. This was the reason why Jesus was sent “𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕.” (𝑳𝑲 19:10) Note the emphasis on rejoicing – the shepherd rejoices, the neighbors rejoice, and heaven rejoices. This is the same with us. There is more rejoicing in heaven when one sinner repents.

         Similarly, as Jesus searches on we must join him in this search and rescue operation to save those who are lost. For those of us whose lives have been turned around by Jesus are now also obliged to look for those who are lost as shepherds and or mentors in our Community.

         We are all familiar with the Life in the Spirit Seminars that are being conducted not only in Catholic Parishes and Charismatic Communities but also in some Evangelical movements. The Baptism in the Spirit is merely a door through which we are given the opportunity to pass through to receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

         After all has been said and done, we can only claim the crown of victory when our lives bear fruit. The teachings and formation programs we avail of from the Church or Community are like streams of running water that nourishes us in our journey of faith and I am certain that there will be more rejoicing in heaven for the sheep who were found and whose lives bear fruit:  “𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒊𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒚𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆.” (𝑬𝒙𝒆𝒌 17:8)

          Time is of the essence and today the world has changed radically as our faith is now being challenged, and we need to look for and help those who are lost and couldn’t find their way.

        As disciples of Christ, this task of looking out for the lost also falls squarely on our shoulders because as disciples we must share in the mission of Christ to search for those who are lost and lead them “𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅.” (𝑷𝒉𝒊 3:10-11) 𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 27, 2025