In October of last year, I had the privilege of meeting Fr. Mike Schmitz during his Parables Tour. It was truly one of the highlights of my year, and his wisdom will stay with me indefinitely. While Fr. Mike discussed a handful of parables during his talk, the one that resonated most with me was the Parable of the Lost Sheep. In this parable, told in Luke 15, Jesus likens himself to a shepherd who has lost one of his 100 sheep. While, in reality, one sheep may not matter to an actual shepherd, such is not the case with our Lord when one of us has gone missing. We all matter to him; no one is inconsequential.
When the shepherd finally finds his lost sheep, he doesn’t react in anger or frustration over having had to search for him. Instead, he rejoices! He places the sheep on his shoulders and carries him home, inviting his friends and neighbors to celebrate.
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Fr. Mike explained, “Jesus needs you to know this about his heart: When you are lost, you are relentlessly pursued, and when you are found, you’re ridiculously celebrated.”
Those lines were so poignant that I had to write them down so I wouldn’t forget. When we are found, Jesus celebrates. Why? Because we all have value. Every one of us matters to him.
Sometimes, it’s so easy to think that we are insignificant in God’s eyes. He is so big, and we are so little. When we look around at the tragedies that are unfolding in many places around the world, it’s natural to wonder, “Why would God spend time thinking about me when there is so much else to focus on?”
But we think this way because of our human-sized brains. We can’t even begin to fathom the love in our Heavenly Father’s heart. Each of us, regardless of what we have done, the lives we have lived, or the sins we have committed, matters to him.
HOMILY: Who Is the Lost Sheep in Your Life?
When we are lost, Jesus pursues us. And when we allow ourselves to be found, he will put us on his shoulders and celebrate. One of the greatest joys of our lives should be remembering that he values us.
To keep us from forgetting, he sends us frequent reminders. I have had two such reminders lately, and contemplating them on a regular basis gives me a glimpse into his heart.
For instance, I had always struggled with the repetition of saying the Rosary, but a few months ago, I began looking forward to saying it more often, so I prayed that I would not lose that passion. Within a few days, someone asked me to review a book about the Rosary. Then, a few weeks later, someone sent me a rosary keychain. And a month later, a friend gave me a rosary from Rome.
Relentlessly pursued and never forgotten.
Around that same time, someone commented on one of my articles about prayer, and she expressed immense sadness that her prayers, even though she deemed them good, had not been answered. She said she was leaving the Church. The morning that I was notified about the comment, I had to briefly wait for my son in an office lobby. As I waited, I prayed for the right thing to say to this person to help her realize God’s love. Suddenly, the security guard began singing a few lines from Lionel Richie’s song “Hello.” He sang no more than 15 to 20 seconds of it before someone approached him with a question, but he began at “Hello, is it me you’re looking for?” and sang all the way up to “I want to tell you so much I love you.”
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In my heart, I knew that God was prompting me to tell this woman of his immense love and that he is there, no matter what difficulties we face in life and no matter how lonely or isolated we feel. I responded to the woman with love, with concern, and with encouragement to keep seeking God because he is truly there for her — for all of us — and he will never abandon us. We need only trust that we are relentlessly pursued and never forgotten.
Our God is not an absent Father. He is very much a part of our lives, even when we push him away. The reminders of God’s pursuit are there; we simply need to open our eyes to them.
So, as we draw nearer to Lent, let us thank God for his relentless pursuit of us. And let us offer up our suffering for the lost and pray daily for them. God is always reaching out for us, even when we are lukewarm, even when we are angry, even when we have walked away, even when we have done something stupid, and even when we tell him we don’t need him. That is the enormity of our Father’s heart.
God pursues us because he loves us more than we can ever imagine. And if we ever doubt our value, we need only look at the crucifix. He died for you, and he died for me, so that he can place us upon his shoulders and carry us home.
