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Advent Weekday
Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 96:1-2, 3 & 10AC, 11-12, 13
Matthew 18:12-14
Summary
the first reading, from the book of the Prophet Isaiah, we hear words
of comfort and hope. The people, feeling abandoned and desperate,
hear that God is still with them. Then in Psalms we sing to and praise
our Lord. And finally, in the Gospel according to Matthew, we are re-
minded how the flock is important but most important is the one who
strays and is found.
Reflection
This Gospel reading made me smile. A few years back, a friend and I
video interviewed each of our son?s 2
nd
grade classmates asking the
question, 'If you were a shepherd and lost one of your sheep, would
you go looking for it?¯ One child responded with questions of how
many sheep made up the flock and if he had other shepherds helping
him. Once assured that he was alone with a flock of 99 sheep and
one had gone missing he relented and said, 'Sure, I?ll go look for the
one¯. Another said he would look for it because 'what is the point of
having a bunch of sheep if one goes missing?¯ And finally, three
other children responded 'Of course, because I love it¯.
Returning to the words of the gospel, 'it is not the will of your heav-
enly Father that one of these little ones
be lost¯, I see a different sheep than the
2
nd
graders. The person who has fallen
spiritually and can?t find a way back up,
those who go through the motions of life
