The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate our need to be “gathered in'' to a fuller relationship with the Good Shepherd and other people in our lives.
A Good Shepherd
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah shares how God’s People are Comforted.
* [40:3–5] A description of the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem (Zion). The language used here figuratively describes the way the exiles will take. The Lord leads them, so their way lies straight across the wilderness rather than along the well-watered routes usually followed from Mesopotamia to Israel. Mt 3:3 and gospel parallels adapt these verses to the witness of John the Baptizer to Jesus.1
Psalm 96 offers praise to God Who comes in Judgement.
* [Psalm 96] A hymn inviting all humanity to praise the glories of Israel’s God (Ps 96:1–3), who is the sole God (Ps 96:4–6). To the just ruler of all belongs worship (Ps 96:7–10); even inanimate creation is to offer praise (Ps 96:11–13). This Psalm has numerous verbal and thematic contacts with Is 40–55, as does Ps 98. Another version of the Psalm is 1 Chr 16:23–33.2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches the Parable of the Lost Sheep.
* [18:10–14] The first and last verses are peculiar to Matthew. The parable itself comes from Q; see Lk 15:3–7. In Luke it serves as justification for Jesus’ table-companionship with sinners; here, it is an exhortation for the disciples to seek out fellow disciples who have gone astray. Not only must no one cause a fellow disciple to sin, but those who have strayed must be sought out and, if possible, brought back to the community. The joy of the shepherd on finding the sheep, though not absent in Mt 18:13 is more emphasized in Luke. By his addition of Mt 18:10, 14 Matthew has drawn out explicitly the application of the parable to the care of the little ones.3
Edward Morse comments that today’s gospel reinforces the tender mercy of our Lord and his care for our souls in the parable of the lost sheep.
As much as we like a little adventure and even some peace and quiet, it is hazardous to stray too far from the flock, where the Good Shepherd’s rod and staff are at the ready to send a message to the predators that are about. When we stray, he comes to find us and save us. After all, we belong to him! But will we welcome his coming? In this Advent season, let us draw close to the Shepherd. Let us also find gratitude for the other bleating sheep. And let us welcome home the lost sheep whose good company we have been missing. Thanks be to God.4
Don Schwager quotes “A small seed produces a great tree,” by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).
"Do you see in how many ways he leads us to care for our worthless brothers? Don't therefore say, 'The fellow's a smith, a cobbler, a farmer; he's stupid,' so that you despise him. In case you suffer the same, see in how many ways the Lord urges you to be moderate and enjoins you to care for these little ones. He placed a little child in the midst and said, 'Become like children,, and, 'Whoever receives one such child, receives me.' But 'whoever causes one of these to sin' will suffer the worst fate. And he was not even satisfied with the example of the millstone, but he also added his curse and told us to cut off such people, even though they are like a hand or eye to us. And again, through the angels to whom these small brothers are handed over, he urges that we value them, as he has valued them through his own will and passion. When Jesus says, 'The Son of man came to save the lost (Luke 19:10),' he points to the cross, just as Paul also says, writing about his brother for whom Christ died (Romans 14:15). It does not please the Father that anyone is lost. The shepherd leaves the ones that have been saved and seeks the one lost. And when he finds the one that has gone astray, he rejoices greatly at its discovery and at its safety." (excerpt from the THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 59.4)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Isaiah 40:1-11 comments that Isaiah not only proclaimed the end of the exile but the promise of an even deeper hope as well. His words would find their ultimate fulfillment in the birth of Jesus: “Here comes with power the Lord God” (Isaiah 40:10). Not only does God love his people, but instead of forcing them to bargain with him, he promises them infinitely more than they can ever pay in return. In Jesus, they receive his comfort, his words of mercy, and eternal salvation.
God wants to speak this same message of love and comfort to us today. Through Jesus, he has bound himself to us in an unbreakable covenant. We don’t have to “buy” his love with good deeds as the pagans of old did. When things go wrong, we don’t have to take on the added fear that God has somehow abandoned us. No! At our lowest point, God looks at us with love and says, “Give comfort to my son, to my daughter.” Today in prayer, try to have a bargain-free conversation with God. Accept his love. Welcome his mercy. Let him feed you and carry you tenderly in his arms. “Jesus, I trust in you! Thank you for your comfort and mercy!”6
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the text from Deuero-Isaiah that proclaims the return from exile in Babylon as greater than the Exodus from Egypt. He shares the image of God as a Shepherd carrying the little ones in His arms. Friar Jude reminds us that God sees the needs of the lost and works to bring them back to Him.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, writes about how the coming of Christ is far more than the birth of a baby. The Christ Mystery is nothing less than a cosmic hope for history.
All of us take part in the evolving, universe-spanning Christ Mystery. Jesus is a map for the time-bound and personal level of life, and Christ is the blueprint for all time and space and life itself. Both reveal the universal pattern of self-emptying and infilling (Christ) and death and resurrection (Jesus), which is the process we have called “holiness,” “salvation,” or just “growth,” at different times in our history. For Christians, this universal pattern perfectly mimics the inner life of the Trinity in Christian theology, which is our template for how reality unfolds, since all things are created “in the image and likeness” of God (Genesis 1:26–27).7
Franciscan theologian and scientist Ilia Delio affirms the intrinsic hope and loving responsibility of Christian faith in an evolutionary universe.
We must suffer through to something higher, something more unified, more conscious, more being in love. Hope must be born over and over again, for where there is love, there is hope. Christian life is birthing love into greater unity; it is our contribution to a universe in evolution. We point the way to something more than ourselves, something up ahead that we are now participating in, where heaven and earth will be renewed (Revelation 21). [1]7
We are urged to examine the state of being lost in our lives and the lives of those around us as we respond to the call of the Spirit to experience the care of the Good Shepherd.
References
No comments:
Post a Comment