The Lost Sheep

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 15:1-10.
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
So to them he addressed this parable.
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.
Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.'
In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents."


Commentary of the day : Isaac of Stella
"Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep"

"Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep"

When the time of mercy had come (Ps 102[101],14) the Good Shepherd came down from his Father's side... as had been promised from all eternity. He came in search of the one sheep that had been lost. Promised to her from all eternity, he was sent to her in time; for her sake he was born and handed over, eternally predestined for her. She is unique, drawn from both Jews and Gentiles..., present among all peoples; she is one in her mystery, many in persons, many through the flesh according to nature, one through the Spirit according to grace - in short, one single sheep yet a crowd without number...

As for those whom this shepherd acknowledges as his own: «No one can snatch them out of his hands» (Jn 10,28). For true strength cannot be forced, wisdom cannot be deceived, charity cannot be destroyed, That is why he speaks with assurance, saying...: «I have lost none, Father, of all those you have given me» (Jn 18,9)...

He was sent as truth for the misled, way for the straying, life for the dead, wisdom for the foolish, medicine for the sick, ransom for captives and food for the starving. For all those, we might say, he was sent to «the lost sheep of the house of Israel» (Mt 15,24) that they might be lost no more. He was sent like the spirit into a rigid body so that, at his coming, its members might become warm again and quicken with a new, supernatural and divine life: this is the first resurrection (Rv 20,5). Thus he himself can say: «The hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear it will live» (Jn 5,25). And so he can say of his sheep: «They will hear my voice and follow me» (Jn 10,4-5).