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A team of 200 priests comment on daily Gospel

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Liturgical day: Thursday 31st in Ordinary Time

Gospel text (Lk 15,1-10): «I tell you there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine upright who do not need to repent». Tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering. «This man welcomes sinners and eats with them».

So Jesus told them this parable: «Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and seek out the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbors together and say: ‘Celebrate with me for I have found my lost sheep’. I tell you, just so, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine upright who do not need to repent.

»What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp and sweep the house in a thorough search till she finds the lost coin? And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say: ‘Celebrate with me for I have found the silver coin I lost!’. I tell you, in the same way there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner».

Illustration: Fr. Lluís Raventós Artés

Today, the "Parable of the lost sheep" transmits us comfort and hope, because... who has not been lost in this life? It is surprising that the Pharisees and scribes complained (behind Jesus' back) by muttering: "This man welcomes sinners." Apparently, those guys would have never been lost. Never! They were perfect! This is what they believed; although, actually, they are pitiful: they were blind, by despising others, always with a funerary face...

- God’s second names is "Mercy." What a great comfort to know that my Father-God always smiles at me, especially when I get back to Him!