Readings:
Romans 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29
Luke 14:1, 7-11
Reflection
I remember one time when I was eight, I learnt the power of prayer and the power of Saint Anthony (The saint you pray to help you find lost things). I was mucking around with my mother’s jewellery box. There was a very precious pearl in that box that she had told me was mine when I grew up. Every now and again I would look at the box and take it out and put on the necklace that the pearl was attached to. When I was eight, I must’ve gotten distracted because I went to play in the yard and when I felt for that said necklace it was gone off my neck which means the pearl was gone too. As an eight-year-old and anyone who loses something precious, you feel the devastation in your guts and your heart. You worry and fret and can’t think of anything else but trying to find what is lost! For the next hour, I searched and searched. When all hope was lost, I prayed to Saint Anthony to help me… to my surprise, something caught my eye amongst the fruit trees and there it was… the pearl had been found. Oh, the feeling of gratitude and the Yes, found it!!!! Of course, I quickly put it back and never mentioned it to my mother.
The same might be said for the way God feels about us when we are lost. God is stuck in that anxiety and urgency, asking anyone who can help in his plight to find what is lost… and of course, the weight lifted, the rejoicing in heaven when you are found, when we turn back, when we look a little harder, pray a little more, seek the face of God.
“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.’
Side note: I’m still waiting (now 43) for that necklace to be gifted to me, Mum!
Jo McDade is the Team Manager of The Passionist Youth Retreat Team, Wife and Mother of 4 kiddos and basically a spiritual person on a human experience!