Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Philippians 3:3-8a
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Gospel: Luke 15:1-10
Daily readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110526.cfm
The tax collectors and sinners are crowding in to hear Jesus, and the Pharisees are grumbling: this man welcomes sinners and eats with them. So Jesus tells two short stories. A shepherd has a hundred sheep and loses one. He leaves the ninety-nine and goes after the one until he finds it, then puts it on his shoulders with joy and calls his friends to celebrate. A woman loses one of ten coins, lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully until she finds it. Then she, too, calls her neighbors to rejoice with her. Both stories end the same way, with joy.
What stands out is how much Jesus pursues. The sheep does not find its own way home. The coin certainly does not. The shepherd and the woman go looking, and they do not stop until they have what they came for. That is a portrait of how God looks for us. When we drift, get distracted, or feel like we have wandered a bit far from prayer, God does not shake his head and give up. He goes out and looks. And when we are found, heaven does not scold. It rejoices. This is good news for a Thursday when we may feel scattered, tired, or behind on everything, including our relationship with Jesus.
Paul shows us what it looks like to be found. He lists his credentials: born into the right tribe, a Pharisee, zealous, blameless under the law. He had every reason to be proud of his record. Yet he says, whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ, because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. The point is not that his achievements were bad. It is that nothing compares to knowing Jesus. The Alleluia says it tenderly: come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. The Psalm sings the same joy: let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord.
A few questions to sit with tonight:
1. Where did I feel a little lost or scattered today, like that sheep or that coin? Can I let Jesus find me there?
2. What do I tend to rely on to feel secure, such as my résumé, my record, or being right? What would it mean to value knowing Jesus above that?
3. Did I hear or sense the Lord’s invitation to come and rest today? How did I respond?
4. Is there someone who seems lost or far away, whom I could pray for with the patience of the shepherd, and perhaps with a bit of the shepherd’s joy?
For tomorrow:
Take five minutes to sit quietly with Jesus, and simply let him find you. You might pray the words of the Alleluia slowly: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Then pray for one person who feels far from God.
Lord Jesus, you are the shepherd who goes looking and the woman who will not stop searching. Thank you for finding me again and again, and for rejoicing when you do. Help me to let go of what I lean on instead of you, and to value knowing you above everything. Give me the patience to pray for those who feel lost. Let me rest in you tonight, and wake up glad to be found. Amen.
If you would like to share: when have you felt found by Jesus, even in a small, quiet way?
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