JULY 21, 2024
If we see someone lost, we feel we want to help.
Lost people got Jesus into action, like the shepherd and the lost sheep of the time.
Not just a 9-5 and time off; he seemed in some way to know and recognise his own sheep.
A personal sort of relationship where every sheep was special. Jesus loved all the sheep, particularly the lost one. He would go looking for them with a heart of love to find them. One by one.
He searched for them with compassion. This is the big word of the kingdom of God. Compassion received and offered in personal knowledge. Compassion is entering into the joyful and sad world of another so that we feel with them. We may not know how exactly others feel, but we can enter into their mood and tones of life.
We need to always discover the personal in God and then among each other. We live in a very impersonal world if we allow it. The text and e-mail can be very official at times when we need the tone of voice and mood of the emotions. Our heart can go out and that is like the good shepherd and we are like that to others. Someone is lost – do you have a laugh at them, or can you remember you were lost too? That can get us compassionate.
The challenge for us in the parish and the church, and everywhere, is to reach out to all. That’s what Jesus did and that’s a big mark of the reign of God on earth.
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Recall in prayer who in your family or friendship circle
may be lost in some way. How can you help?
Lord, may your kingdom come.
