Saint Peter Chrysologus (c.406-450)
Bishop of Ravenna, Doctor of the Church
Sermon 168, 4 – 6
God goes in search of the one sheep for the sake of the salvation of all
The fact of re-finding something we had lost always fills us anew with joy. And this joy is greater than that we felt before losing it, when the thing was safely kept. But the parable of the lost sheep speaks more of God’s tenderness than of the way in which people usually behave. It expresses a profound truth. To leave behind something of importance for love of what is more humble is characteristic of divine power, not of human possessiveness. For God even brings into existence what is not: he sets out in search of what is lost while still keeping what he had left in place, and he finds what had strayed without losing what he has under his protection.
That is why this shepherd is not of earth but of heaven. The parable is not in any respect a representation of human achievements but it conceals divine mysteries, as the numbers it mentions immediately show: “What man among you,” says the Lord, “having a hundred sheep and losing one of them…” As you see, the loss of a single sheep has sorely tried this shepherd, as though the whole flock, deprived of his protection, had set out along a treacherous path. This is why, leaving the ninety-nine others there, he sets out in search of the one. He attends to one alone so that, in that one, all may be found and saved.
Daily Marriage Tip for November 8, 2018:
What makes a happy marriage? Many things of course, but one glue that helps a lot of couples is being able to laugh when things go wrong. Is there a blunder that happened in your past that you’re now able to laugh about?