Thursday of week 31 in Ordinary Time
Saint Martin de Porres, Religious
Gospel – Luke 15:1-10
This gospel speaks about how to create the joy of heaven in our communities and families now. Jesus is teaching us how to do that. This is how things work in heaven, how it works in the community of this shepherd which comprises of him, his neighbours and friends. When each member of the community learns to love like this man, this joy is generated. Searching for the missing one is important for him because the missing one is unique and irreplaceable. He loves that one. He loves that sheep because of what that sheep is. That sheep belongs to him, to his heart. So, it’s that love which prompts him to search. And this love is unconditional as we don’t see any excuses for not searching. Nothing is preventing him from searching. Even the 99 sheep are not stopping him. And when he found the sheep, he is ready to share his joy. His joy becomes the joy of the community. His friends and neighbours are ready to share his joy because they participated in his pain of loss. Here we see a community where each single reality of each person is important for the whole community. There the joy of heaven is created.