Short Sermon on Matthew 18:12-14

What do you think? If a shepherd has hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?

           

What do you think dear friends, is it practical and reasonable that a fellow risks ninety nine sheep for one single sheep? What if the other ninety nine also go astray one by one?  Suppose you were the shepherd and one of your sheep is lost, will you leave the other ninety nine and go to search the one that is lost? It may sound unreasonable, but it is true. A shepherd can leave the other sheep for one and they will not go anywhere. To understand this we must first make a quick study of the behavior of the seep.

Flocking behavior:  The sheep like to be in flock or a big herd. They find safety in flocking together. If a sheep is separated from other sheep, the scientists say, there are more chances of that sheep, getting sick and dying.

Follow the leader: When one sheep moves, the rest will follow, even if it is not a good idea. The flocking and following instinct of sheep is so strong that it caused the death of 400 sheep in 2006 in eastern Turkey. The sheep plunged to their death after one of the sheep tried to cross a 15-meter deep ravine, and the rest of the flock followed.

That means if a shepherd leaves the other ninety-nine sheep and goes for searching the one lost, he can be sure that the other ones will go nowhere.

Now there is no doubt that one of the ways of expressing the relationship of God with his people is that of shepherd and sheep. In the OT times it was Yahweh and Israel, and NT times it is Jesus and the New Israel. In John 10:11 Jesus says “I am the Good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” And he did that.

Therefore a good shepherd will never want that anyone of his sheep is lost, because the sheep may not know the consequences of being lost. Only the shepherd knows that the sheep cannot survive if it is cutoff from the shepherd and other sheep. Similarly we may not know the consequences of going away from God and from each other but God knows. Our sins not only threaten our relationship with God but also become a hindrance in relating with others. They become the mountains and valleys in our way to meet God. They hinder us from experiencing God’s love in our lives and in the lives of others.

Is there anybody here who feels that God doesn’t love him? Even if we feel so, that is not true. The Truth is that God loves us unconditionally and doesn’t want even the least of us is lost. There is a true incident about the famous poet Elizabeth Barrett who became the wife of Robert Browning; her parents disowned her because they disapproved of the marriage. Their daughter Elizabeth, however, wrote almost every week, telling them that she loved them and longed for reconciliation. After 10 years, she received a huge box in the mail that contained all the notes she had sent. Not one had been opened! Although these "love letters" have now become a precious part of classical English literature, it’s really sad to think that they were never read by Elizabeth Barrett’s own parents. Had they looked at just one, the broken relationship with their daughter might have been healed. All of us are alienated from God because of sin, but God has provided a way of reconciliation.

God always invites and waits for us to come to Him. This second week of advent invites us to reflect about the unconditional love of God towards humanity, towards each one of us. Let us introspect and see whether we are that lost sheep or among the herd of other ninety-nine who did not go astray?

There may be many times when you feel God is far from you... when God seems to desert you...

Don't worry... ask others... Perhaps He is close to them... they can bring Him closer to you.

The point is when you waver in faith... look at others faith... that will enhance your faith too...

God never forsakes us...

We may feel sometimes so...

But our feelings are not always indication to right path...

Assignment

My Perception of Priesthood in Today’s Context

The seemingly bitter side of the reality: The other day I had a casual talk with one of the senior parishioners of the local parish. The conversation was about the celebrant of the novena mass for the day. And somehow unknowingly we started to talk about the priests. He told about a priest who quit priesthood and married, presently running a school. He is having a good family life with two small kids. This old man felt that it should not have happened, and I tried to explain to him in my own words so as to why it might have happened and why it possibly happens. I said, “its perhaps because he was not firm in his vocation, he must have not taken his spiritual life seriously.” I thought it was a good answer and that would satisfy my partner in conversation. But it was my turn now to be surprised and shocked on what he said next. He said, “It has nothing to do with vocation, the world outside is very challenging today and to live an easy and comfortable life, the boys join priesthood.” He might be wrong in his perception about priesthood today, but certainly the situation is not what it used to be before.

A link between God and people: The world is changing and so the concept and perception of priesthood today. I have always looked on a priest as someone who voluntarily gives up everything, including family, property, heritage and even his personal self, and stands as a mediator between God and the people. The need for the priests has increased to a great extent today as the people are slowly ignoring the importance of spiritual life and loosing the sense of sin, the state of being without God. What is most dangerous is that they don’t know all this, and there has to be someone who can remind them of their silliness and God’s love to them.

One who is much in demand today: In this consumerist and competitive world which follows the principle of ‘survival of the fittest’ the people are very busy in things that have no much value for the life to come. Religion has become the least priority except for those who are in the ‘evening of their life’ and preparing to meet their Creator soon. In fact people think, it is the last thing to care about spirituality and religion. The world is so fascinating that they don’t much feel the need of God in their lives. Today there is a dire need for someone exclusively appointed to lead them to God and Spirituality. That can be none other than a priest. Yes, a priest is meant to lead, to lead the people from worldliness to God, to lead people from consumerism and materialism to human values, lead people to feel the need to restore that image and likeness of God in them.

One who Lives God’s will: People follow the leader and a priest being a leader must look for his inspiration and strength in the leadership of Jesus himself. They say, “People may not follow what you preach but surely what you do.” It is easy to follow the one who does things than the one who just utters mere empty words. To lead the people to God, to make them feel the unconditional love of God, the priest himself must feel and live it first. Mere empty words do not produce any fruit. The priest has to be spiritual not just preach spirituality. Today there is increasing tendency among the priests to be busy in ‘the work of the Lord than in the Lord of the work.’ When disciples returned from evangelizing, Jesus asked them to come to a lonely place and spend some time in prayer. Even Mother Teresa, the more she worked, the more she spent time in prayer. There are numerous examples of priests who spent time in prayer and became the reason for many strayed souls to return to God. St. John Mary Vianney is one of them. To put it in a nut shell, a priest has to be a man of God so that he can lead others to become the people of God.

A Leader of the leaders: The world is much advanced today, and the people have great knowledge about things. A priest is meant to lead the engineers, advocates, managers, businessmen, peasants and people from all walks of life. Obviously he has to be all for all. That’s what Christ became. He became a friend to sinners, became a Guru to the intelligent and compassionate to the ignorant, forgiving to the offenders and became all to all, and a priest is called to be another Christ. I want to be a dynamic priest who is dearly loved by God and through whom God loves the world and world loves God.

A Teacher I can Never forget...

… He taught me a lesson for life!!!

            We human beings are strange beings! Sometimes we want to forget things but they still keep clinging to our memories and sometimes we want to remember and cherish some things but they fade away only to leave us perplexed and confused.

It was when I was in third standard in a school of my village. Those days only few schools used to be there and there used to be ‘real teaching’ there. The head master (principal) was very strict and off course he loved discipline in the school.

Once, my classmate and I planned to ‘steal’ some old news papers that were put in the store room. Actually we wanted to cover our books and that was the best option available for us. We promptly executed the plan. Somehow the headmaster came to know. He was known for his thrashing of the students who deserved the punishment. I had never had a chance to be punished; I was rather good in studies and over all a good boy. When he came to know of this act, he called the whole class together in the games period.

All were quiet and perhaps knew what was going to happen. He called the first boy and gave him thorough beating. The boy cried, begged pity but he was not spared till the master was satisfied. Those days teachers were given freedom not only to teach the subjects but also to form the character of the child. Perhaps that’s why the master was obliged to correct us.

Meanwhile I was already shivering and waiting for my chance… And finally he called me. I went to him slowly and softly, my heart beat already reaching to its height. But to everyone’s surprise he didn’t beat me… he called me close… kept his arm on my shoulder gently and said, “You are a good boy, the whole school knows it. Then what made this good boy to do such a bad thing. Stealing is bad, isn’t it?” I nodded my head in approval. He continued, “I know you will not repeat it.” I started crying, first slowly, then loudly. He said, “Now go home and get that paper back.” I ran without thinking further for another moment, and brought the paper. That was a great lesson not only for me but for the whole class. I will remember this incidence till the day I go to the grave.