GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew
Mt 18:12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
“What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”

The word of the Lord

Three daggers to the heart.

Three phrases jump out like daggers from this Gospel text. Let’s see if I dodge them and make excuses or let them reach my heart. The first is: It is not the Father’s will that one of these little ones get lost. This phrase leaves me with no free time.

The second is how the Father rejoices over a repentant sinner. Do I rejoice in the same way when my husband has hurt me a lot and asks for my forgiveness?

And the third is that when faced with an offense, the one who takes the initiative is the offended, the initiative to rescue the offender. Do I take that initiative when I am offended or do I wait for forgiveness before taking a step?

Grounded in Married Life:

Miguel: Rocio, I’ve realised that I have not known how to respond in your worst moments. When you have been sunk in the misery of your sin, instead of taking the initiative and going out to rescue you, I have pulled the chain to get rid of your filth without considering that I was also abandoning you.

Rocío: Calm down, Miguel, I understand you perfectly because I get very unbearable.

Miguel: But now I tell you that I am willing to get down to the mud and dive my head first into the filth if necessary in order to rescue you.

Rocío: I am not worthy of you enter my house, but one word from you I will welcome as the Word that God sends me and that will be enough to heal me.

Miguel: Wow, if I had known that one word was enough, I would not have jumped into the puddle.

Rocío: Hahaha. Well, it was one word but I was covered in mud up to my eyebrows.

Mother,

We thank God so much for having come out to look for us… I do not have enough life or sacrifices to thank for what I have received by collaborating with His redemptive work.

Praise the Lord who has loved us so much.