Gospel: Luke 15: 1-10

The Gospel today presents the first two of three parables united by the same word. It is a question of three things which were lost: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. The three parables are addressed to the Pharisees and to the doctors of the law who criticized Jesus. 

 

There were the tax collectors and the sinners. There was something in Jesus which attracted them. They want to listen to Him. This is a sign that they do not feel condemned, but rather they feel accepted by Him. 

 

The parable of the lost sheep begins with a question. The question is formulated in such a way that the response can only be a positive one: “Yes, he will go after the lost sheep!”

 

Now, in the parable, the shepherd does what nobody would do: to leave everything and to go and look for the lost sheep. God alone can assume such an attitude! Jesus wants us to become aware, conscious of the Pharisee or the scribe which is in each one of us. The Pharisees and the scribes abandoned the sinners and excluded them. They would have allowed it to get lost in the desert. They preferred the ninety-nine. But Jesus places Himself in the place of the sheep which got lost, which in the context of the official religion, would fall into despair without the hope of being accepted. 

 

The parable communicates hope. This message recalls what God tells us in the book of the prophet Isaiah: "Look, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands!” (Isa 49: 16). “Since, I regard you as precious, since you are honored and I love you!” (Isa 43: 4).