Rejoice with me

Phil. 3:3-8, Lk. 15:1-10. We all need people with whom we can journey and who want to journey with us. Beneath all this searching and longing is our yearning for what can satisfy our deepest longings. In today's first reading, Paul remarks that he thought he had it all as an ardent Jew. He had been circumcised, a lawful member of Hebrew nation, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee. When it came to keeping the law, he was blameless because he observed the law to its smallest detail. At that time in his life, Paul persecuted those whom he had seen as losing their way to follow some fanatic named Jesus. Yet in his austere and rigid practice of Judaism he was at risk of losing it all. Paul ends today’s reading by saying that what he formerly thought he had found is actually to be considered as loss unless there is a relationship with the Lord Jesus.

St Augustine wrote that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. Deeper than our yearning for God is God’s yearning for us. That divine yearning took flesh in the person of Jesus. His whole purpose in life was “to seek and to save what was lost.” His search for us is like that of the shepherd searching for a lost sheep or a woman searching for her lost coin as recorded in today's Gospel. These two parables describe how God continue to search for us, to help us to achieve our purpose in life. We can take hope from this because each of us is lost in some way. Each of the persons in the parables says: "Rejoice with me!" and according to Jesus their happiness reflects the joy in Heaven over one repentant sinner who returns to the right path.

May the Lord grant us His mercy and salvation so that we may all experience the surpassing knowledge of our God! Amen!! Remain safe and have a wonderful day!!!