Reflection for December 6
The gospel teaches us that Jesus loves us all equally, no matter what happens. Even when we sin, he still loves us the same. When Jesus talked to his disciples about the 100 sheep, he was telling them how much he loved them. The reason the shepherd left the other 99 sheep was because one sheep was missing, lost and not safe. The shepherd went to find the one lost sheep and bring him back home. Jesus wants to bring us safely home too when we are lost or missing.
Joshua Flanagan, grade 6
I see this gospel reading as a comparing of God’s love and compassion for life and belonging.
Jesus as our shepherd is like a mother to a child. If one of us is lost,
Jesus searches for us as a mother would look for her wandering child.
When we turn away from Him, Jesus does not give up searching for us.
As a mother would search the ends of the earth to find her child to heal
the devastation of losing one so small, so Jesus searches to heal our
losses.
When we are found (like the lone sheep that wandered from the herd),
there is great joy in the heart of our Lord as there is in the heart of the
mother who gathered up her wandering child. The Lord gives blessings
to us each Advent, including the opportunity to gather our loved ones
together to celebrate that all who are lost…are found in the Lord.
I end this reflection with a line from The Lord’s Prayer that seems to
resonate with this gospel: “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in
Heaven.”
Carol DiLorenzo