L ike the love of the good shepherd in this parable God’s love seeks us out when we stray desiring only that we return home so there may be even more rejoicing, “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.”

All Saints and Blessed of the Society of Jesus

National Jesuit Vocation Day

Romans 14:7-12

Psalm 27:1bcde, 4, 13-14

L uke 15:1-10 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. (2) And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." (3) So he told them this parable: (4) "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? (5) And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. (6) And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.' (7) Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (8) "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? (9) And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.' (10) Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Meditation by Dick Hauser (Creighton University)

T oday’s Gospel presents my favorite image of the Lord in the Gospels:  the Good Shepherd.  How consoling to realize that our God cares for us personally as individuals and not only as part of a community of believers.   And even more consoling is the realization that our shepherd does not abandon and reject us when we go astray but goes out of his way to bring us back, “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?”

How sad that so many Christians imagine God and Jesus so differently. We imagine the Lord primarily as king, ruler or judge meticulously keeping a heavenly scorecard of our good and bad actions.  Further we imagine the Lord as abandoning and rejecting and perhaps even punishing us when we go astray. We think that we must earn God’s love by fulfilling religious obligations.

But God’s love for us is unconditional and constant.  Like the love of the good shepherd in this parable God’s love seeks us out when we stray desiring only that we return home so there may be even more rejoicing, “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.”

St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, experienced this unconditional love. In a vision Ignatius saw the Father present him to Jesus and tell Jesus to take him as his servant.  Ignatius lived in the deepest personal communion with Jesus, even insisting that his small band of followers be named the “Company of Jesus” and not, as some were insisting, after himself -- like the followers of Benedict, Francis and Dominic. 

Today the Society celebrates the Feast of All Saints and Blessed of  the Society of Jesus. Today also the Society observes National Vocation Promotion Day.  The “Jesuits” are inviting men throughout the nation to consider whether God might not be calling them to join their company, to experience Jesus’ unconditional love and together serve the Kingdom of God.

Supplementary Reading

TIDy uP

Be ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit. – Luke 12:35

“Have you done your assigned chores?” My mother would ask me every day before I went to school when I was still a kid.

I’d always be the first to get up to prepare for school. By the time I was all dressed and ready, my sister and my father would just be going about their morning ritual — taking a bath, dressing up and eating breakfast. So I had a lot of time to sit around and wait for them to finish.

Then Mama said to me one day, “While you wait, why don’t you fix the throw pillows on the sofa, clear the coffee table, empty the trash cans and sweep the floor?” Since then, those chores became part of my morning ritual. I did it every day because Mama made them my official daily “assignments.”

She told me that I had to make our living room presentable — as if we were expecting a visitor every day. That made me realize how significant those little chores were. Thus, I was never worried that we would have unexpected visitors because I knew they would find our living room ready to receive them.

Our hearts are our living rooms. Are we ready to receive God every day? -- Claire Algarme

REFLECTION:

What are the areas in your life that need cleaning up?

Holy Spirit, reveal to me what chores I need to do so that my heart will be ready for You always.