The Joy of Finding the Lost!

Thursday, November 6, 2025

Rom 14:7-12; Lk 15:1-10

Today’s Gospel highlights the joy of finding the lost.

Jesus gives us two parables – the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin – to let us understand that divine metrics differ from human expectations. 

In giving us the two parables, Jesus wants us to think through the sort of questions that the characters involved would be raising. The two kinds of people in the parables are the self-righteous people and God, represented by the shepherd and the woman. 

While the first group, made up of self-righteous people, is found in a disgruntled mode because of Jesus’ inclusive mission, the shepherd and the woman go after the lost ones, only to rejoice after finding what was lost, even though such going after would come at the cost of leaving others behind. 

Now, Jesus lets us conclude that the questions of the self-righteous are likely to proceed from their anger or resentment over the lost ones who could not be careful enough. Hence, their tone would be judgemental and harsh. They would be fuming inside, asking, ‘Why could the lost ones not fall in line with the rest? Do they take advantage of God? Should God not punish such slackers because they steal His attention that is meant for those who are proper?

Having given us the apparently reasonable questions that the self-righteous might have been asking, Jesus shows that, unlike those who considered themselves righteous, God must have asked, ‘What would happen to the lost one if I did not go in search of it? Do I abandon it to its fate just because it made the mistake of straying from the rest? Would the lost one not be assured that there is my good shepherd who will come looking for me?’

Presenting two different mindsets, Jesus is telling the crowd of listeners that it is impossible to understand the mind of God from shallow human calculations.

It is also Jesus’ intention to show that if the self-righteous were to be the lost ones, they would want to see a loving God who would go looking for them. But if the lost ones were others who do not belong to their fold, they want a God who would judge and punish the straying ones for failing others. 

We defend ourselves if we are wrong. But we judge others when they are wrong. 

Against the danger of self-righteousness, Jesus presents the salvaging love of God, who goes after the lost ones only to rejoice after finding them. 

Let us pray that we may live out God’s merciful love as practiced by the shepherd and the woman.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar