Lost sheep

Matthew 18:10-14

          Yesterday I alluded to what have been called 'CAPE' Catholics though the idea is valid in almost any religion. 'CAPE' stands for Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Easter, those days you can count on the faithful to show up at church in droves, but only on those days. The rest of the year, they are all strangers. Very often they are looked down upon by the 'regulars', those that attend church every Sunday or perhaps even every day. I have see some tension when the seat of someone who attends regularly and has their own preferred seat is supplanted by one of the 'strangers'. "that's my seat!" (stranger).

            People seem to feel they have a sense of entitlement. Perhaps in drilling into people that God loves them, they think they are the only one that God loves. It's always about me, me, me. The fact is God loves all of us equally.  Paraphrasing a book I once read, 'God loves others at least as much as God loves me'.  But! I go to church every Sunday, all year long and they don't! Well, I don't think you get extra credit for doing what you really should be doing anyway, going to church every Sunday.  If you are quick to say but they don't! Well, then you get into judgements and again, raising yourself above everyone else at their expense.  

            We need to do two things. We need to be our best because that is what we are called to do, regardless of anyone else or what anyone else does (or doesn't do). Second, we need to know we are all loved equally. Perhaps God appreciates where each of is on our own personal journeys and loves us in spite of our shortcomings, seeing the BIG picture, the picture we will never be able to really see.  We need to realize that no matter who we are or where we are or what we are, God would leave the whole crowd and search for us individually. God calls us all individually.

         So whether you are a sinner of any kind, gay, black, white, Muslim, Hindu, challenged, divorced, or even straight and Catholic, we are all called and all loved. We are all the lost sheep in one way or another. That conjures up the image that we are all queer in one way or another, but I will leave that topic for another time. Just so we all know that we are all loved, all called, all welcome at God's table.

‘Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.