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December 5, 2020In the midst of this Pandemic, it is important that we be clear: We are not the lost sheep of Israel that Jesus speaks about in today’s Gospel, the ones who call forth his pity because they are like sheep without a shepherd. No. We are the ones who have received freely. But what have we received? Isaiah tells us:
We have received grace in response to our weeping.
Our cries have One who hears us.
Our hunger and thirst have been satiated.
The Way has been whispered to us; the Teacher whom we sought is now plainly visible;
And all our labors will be abundantly fruitful;
Our world is filled with a marvelous Light and is spectacularly verdant.
Isaiah’s great vision, God’s dream for us, has come true in Jesus:
Jesus, the Worker of Wonders. Jesus, the Way. Jesus, the Word Incarnate.
We have found our light. We are surrounded by the embrace of his marvelous grace.
And this unfathomable Gift has been freely given to us. No strings.
What response should we make to such a gift other than to give freely?!
Jesus does not pity us because we are lost and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. We have our shepherd. We have found our Way. We must follow his Light into the Way and in so doing, we help light the Way for others.
We are the workers of the harvest the disciples prayed for, the ones sent out for the benefit of the troubled and abandoned ones. We are, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the continual coming true of God’s dream for the troubled and abandoned ones, simply by sharing freely that which has been given to us. There is a whole world waiting expectantly for the advent of our free giving of that which has been given freely to us.
