CONSOLE MY PEOPLE


TUESDAY, SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT

Isa 40:1-11; Ps 96:1-3,10-13; Mt 18:12-14

Finding the Lost Sheep

The parable of the lost sheep in the Gospel reveals God’s economy of salvation and confirms our understanding of the mystery of the human person in relation to God. It also throws light on the mystery of our salvation in Jesus Christ. We consider the parable first from the aspect of the compassionate heart of our God, who made and understands the lost sheep. God’s complete knowledge of our human nature, which he made in his image, implies that he understands completely and uniquely the woes and conditions of the lost sheep; what we would suffer away from his presence and loving guidance. The fact that he made us for himself means that away from his presence and the light of his word, we are miserably exposed to the manipulations of the forces of evil and the darkness of our nature without God’s light. These conditions are the sources of terrible sufferings for us, who wander away from our home in God. The prophetic words of consolation come to us in our dark and terrible situation, promising the advent of our God. “‘Console my people, console them’ says your God. ‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her that her time of service is ended, that her sin is atoned for, that she has received from the hand of the Lord double punishment for all her crimes.’” The punishment permitted by the Lord for Jerusalem is a necessary one required to bring her around to accept salvation from God. The free will God blessed us with necessitates that we accept God’s salvation before we can be saved by him.

Our compassionate God does not delay in rescuing us, the lost sheep of his flock, after our departure from him. Our deliverance and salvation require that we become aware of our condition; we are lost and in need of salvation. To facilitate this, the infinite mercy of God removes every comfort and deceptive pleasure around us, in order to create a desert or wilderness, which will bring us to the necessary awareness of our being lost. The resulting discomfort and pain create in us a desire to return home to our God. To those blessed with this desire, the prophet Isaiah bids us prepare a way for the Lord to come for our deliverance. “A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert. Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low. Let every cliff become a plain, and the ridges a valley; then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all mankind shall see it.” When we repent of our excesses and our deficiencies, from our actions and omissions, and humble our sinful pride, God will reveal his presence around us, for our deliverance, salvation, and restoration. These pre-requisite actions on our side, in which we cooperate with God’s grace, delay our salvation and God’s manifestation of his glory in and around us when they are lacking. Without humbling ourselves in sincere acceptance of our nothingness without God, we cannot be saved; we would remain lost in the maze of sins and worldly illusions.

When we are discovered and rescued by God, we must ingrain our nothingness deep within our thinking and doing to prevent us from getting lost again. The Lord commands us to sound the truth of our nothingness to our hearing to forestall our getting lost. “All flesh is grass and its beauty like the wild flower’s. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on them.  (The grass is without doubt the people.) The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God remains for ever.” The word of God causes the grasses to wither and the flowers to fade to get our attention and desire back to the Good Shepherd who comes to rescue us and take us back to our home in God. The prophecy reveals all these to us. “Here is the Lord coming with power, his arm subduing all things to him. The prize of his victory is with him; his trophies all go before him. He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breast, and leading to their rest the mother ewes.” The power the Lord exhibits at his coming is for our salvation and not for our destruction. His power destroys us when we are recalcitrant in our sinful ways; when we prove ourselves to be goats and not his lambs or sheep.

Let us pray: O God, who have shown forth your salvation to all the ends of the earth, grant, we pray, that we may look forward in joy to the glorious Nativity of Christ. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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