Aug 28 Fri
Will I be able to follow Jesus till the end?
Our Lord declared: “If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search of the one that went astray?"
Perhaps that sheep was simply straggling behind. Maybe it was just idly nibbling at the grass along the way. Or possibly it was already dead, killed by some beast of prey. But no shepherd ever abandons a sheep that has gone astray. He leaves the rest of the flock in a safe place and goes off to look for the lost sheep.
Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep, regardless of the difficulties, and He does not give up until He finds it.
Thus, “if the thought should ever cross your mind, as a diabolical temptation to take your peace away (bear in mind that the devil would strip you, if he could, of all the gifts God has given you, especially faith, purity and vocation); if, as I was saying, you ever suffered the temptation of thinking you had strayed so far from God that you couldn't return, remember how, as in the parable, Christ always goes to look for the soul that has gone astray; and He for his part never denies you the grace to begin again."
We should see Jesus seeking out the sheep in every word of affection and support, in every act of clear guidance by the others, in the form of a correction, in some act of kindness, or in some helpful piece of reading.
“Then, if you are humble and acknowledge your mistakes, you will persevere. Try to raise your eyes to heaven; don't just look at things from a purely selfish point of view. Have faith and hope, and trust in the love which Jesus has for you. He is the Good Shepherd, and for your sake, He will make his way through crags and ravines, to take you in his arms, hug you to his wounded breast, and urge you to be faithful. It is only if you reject him with a flat ‘No’, or if you are foolishly determined to throw yourself over the precipice, that He will be unable to bring you back to the right path."
“Lord, knowing that you are the Good Shepherd and that we are sheep of your flock, how confident we can be, and how easy it is to persevere!"
One might expect the shepherd to be angry with the lost sheep, intending to teach it a lesson with his crook. But he doesn't think like that. As our Lord says: if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.
“If you should ever go astray, either a lot or a little, don't deprive our Lord of the joy of finding you and of being able to say: ‘Here's a sheep of mine who wants to be faithful, who wants to persevere in my flock.’"